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Website Policy

Read about standards and guidelines that govern the City of Berkeley's website.

The City of Berkeley website is an interdepartmental effort dedicated to improving communication between City officials and the residents we serve. The City web team comprises staff from various departments, divisions, and programs working together to ensure public access to information and expand the range of online services available to Berkeley residents.

The City of Berkeley web policy outlines the standards and guidelines that govern the City website.

Legal Notice Regarding the City of Berkeley Website (CoBWEB)

  1. The City of Berkeley's website (CoBWEB) web servers and City-contracted vendor servers are maintained for the exclusive use of the City of Berkeley in communicating matters of general public interest via the Internet. While the City attempts to keep CoBWEB accurate and timely, the City neither warrants nor makes representations or endorsements as to the accuracy, quality, content, or completeness of the information, text, images, graphics, hyperlinks, and other items contained on its web servers. Web content is compiled from a variety of sources, and is subject to change without notice from the City as a result of updates and corrections. 
  2. The City of Berkeley is committed to upholding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Reasonable accommodations regarding equal access to information will be provided upon request to the to the City of Berkeley ADA Officer at (510) 981-6418, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  3. Hyperlinks on CoBWEB may lead to resources located on other servers. The presence of these hyperlinks should not be construed as an endorsement of these sites or their content. The City of Berkeley is not responsible for the content of any such external web site.
  4. To the extent permitted by the Public Records Act and otherwise legally permissible, commercial use of CoBWEB materials, content, and information is explicitly prohibited without the written permission of the City. All branding and trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. 
  5. The City of Berkeley retains copyright on all text, graphic images, and other content, unless otherwise noted. No person or entity may do any of the following without written permission from the City of Berkeley Web Manager: a) modify and/or re-use text, images or other web content from a City web server, b) distribute the City's web content, and c) "mirror" the City's information on a non-City server. Information linked from CoBWEB that is referred to as “Open Data” can be used without first obtaining City of Berkeley permission.
  6. Communications made via electronic mail (e-mail), including "mailto:" links, and messaging systems shall in no way be deemed to constitute public comment or legal notice to the City of Berkeley or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives, with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of action regarding the City or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives, where notice to the City is required by any federal, state or local laws, rules, or regulations.
  7. CoBWEB and all materials contained therein are distributed and transmitted "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of title or implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. The City is neither responsible nor liable for any viruses or contaminations of a web visitor's hardware, software, peripherals, or properties nor for any delays, inaccuracies, errors, or omissions resulting from use of or with respect to the material contained on its web servers, including without limitation but not limited to, any material posted on or linked to from CoBWEB. The City is not responsible for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages that may arise from the use of, or the inability to use, the site and/or the materials contained on the site whether the materials contained on the site are provided by the City of Berkeley, or a third party. 
  8. CoBWEB is managed by the City of Berkeley, Department of Information Technology. Web content is produced by every program and department within the City of Berkeley.

Accessibility Statement

Privacy Policy

Social Media Policy

The following content is not permitted - or if content on a specific Social Media site is not subject to control by the City is not sanctioned - on Social Media sites operated by the City, and shall be removed as soon as possible.

  1. User-generated content unrelated to the stated purpose of the Social Media site and the City content in response to which the material is posted;
  2. Obscene content, "fighting words" or terrorist threats as defined by the California Penal Code;
  3. Defamatory statements as defined by applicable law;
  4. Private, personal information published without consent of the individual identified;
  5. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party;
  6. Information that is likely to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
  7. Advocacy with respect to specific political parties, candidates elected or appointed officials, or ballot measures, whether local, state or national;
  8. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
  9. Solicitations for commerce;
  10. Incitement of illegal activity;
  11. Photos or other images that fall in any of the above categories; and
  12. Hyperlinks to material that falls in any of the above categories

The City reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law. Any content removed based on these guidelines must be retained, including the time, date and identity of the poster when available in accordance with the City's policy on the retention of such information.

Appeals

In the event the City decides not to display a posting on social media, an aggrieved person may submit a written appeal within seven (7) days to the Assistant to the City Manager/PIO. Appeals should be sent to Matthai Chakko, mchakko@cityofberkeley.info

A decision by the Assistant to the City Manager/PIO may be appealed in writing to the Deputy City Manager within (10) days of issuance the appeal decision. The decision of the Deputy City Manager is final. Appeals should be sent to Paul Buddenhagen, pbuddenhagen@cityofberkeley.info.

Policy on Images & graphics posted on the city of berkeley website

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the City of Berkeley Website follows all copyright, trademark, and ownership laws, as well as relevant universal accessibility, design, and general policy guidelines established by the City of Berkeley relevant to images and graphics. 

The City of Berkeley website (CoBWEB) comprises all documents, databases, log files, web pages, and other information residing on any City-owned web server. 

All photographs, images, and other graphics posted to CoBWEB will be:

  1. Authorized, upon written permission of owner, for publication by the City of Berkeley. 

  2. Optimized at a resolution of 72 dot pixels per inch. 

  3. Posted with an associated ALT tag on each page upon which it has been inserted. 

  4. Registered into the City of Berkeley Web Photo Archive before being added to any CoBWEB page. Each entry includes written documentation of:
    Date of Inclusion
    Source
    Original Author / Owner
    Written Permission to Post (where applicable) 

 Community Calendar Policy

The purpose of the City of Berkeley website ("CoBWEB") is to provide information about City services, laws, policies, and initiatives. CoBWEB is not intended to provide a forum for debate or public exchange of information, but rather is maintained for the exclusive use of the City of Berkeley to communicate with the public.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Community Calendar** is maintained as Non-Public Forum for the primary purpose of providing information about City government, services, meetings and events to the public. A secondary function is to make available information provided by outside entities.

Events are posted to the Community Calendar by authorized City of Berkeley staff in accordance with the following standards: 

  1. City of Berkeley public meetings or meetings of other governmental agencies that are related to programs and policies of the City of Berkeley;
  2. City-sponsored events;
  3. Public events that receive formal sponsorship from the Berkeley City Council;

Residents or organizations looking to publicize other events within the City of Berkeley can request their events be listed by the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.visitberkeley.org).

**The City of Berkeley Community Calendar comprises all documents, databases, log files, web pages, and other information residing within the Community Calendar subweb on any City-owned web server.

Policy on Content Posted to the City of Berkeley Website

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the City of Berkeley Website does not become public fora or limited public fora (with the exception of the Community Calendar subweb), but rather is maintained for the exclusive use of the City of Berkeley in communicating matters of general public interest. 

The City of Berkeley website (CoBWEB) comprises all documents, databases, log files, web pages, and other information residing on any City-owned web server. This includes - but is not limited to - all information housed on a City of Berkeley web server using htm, html, asp, aspx, word, pdf, and / or database storage formats. 

All content posted to CoBWEB is subject to standards of integration into the City of Berkeley approach to online information presentation in communicating matters of general public interest. All content must meet the following standards:

  • contains information of general interest to the public and reflecting a City of Berkeley departmental, divisional, or program initiative, range of service, or responsibility OR contains directional information of interest to the public, such as maps, directories of goods and services, etc.; OR provides public notice of a specific event which is open to the public and has received City sponsorship in the form of a Council resolution OR is posted only to the Community Calendar and adheres to the associated standards; AND 
  • represents the City of Berkeley as a single speaker; AND 
  • fulfills the CoBWEB publishing protocols  

External Links Policy

 Purpose of CoBWEB

The purpose of the City of Berkeley website (“CoBWEB”) is to provide information about City services, laws, policies, and initiatives. CoBWEB is not intended to provide a forum for debate or public exchange of information, but rather is maintained for the exclusive use of the City of Berkeley to communicate with the public.

 A primary function of CoBWEB is to provide information about City government and City services to the public.  A secondary function is to make available to the public information provided by outside entities by providing information as to how those entities can be contacted or, in some cases, providing Links to their websites. This policy guides the creation of such Links.

    Disclaimer

     Links from CoBWEB to other sites on the Internet do not constitute an endorsement, and the City is not responsible for the content, quality, or accuracy of any materials referenced or linked through the City of Berkeley’s Website. By using CoBWEB, the user acknowledges and accepts that the City of Berkeley is not responsible for any materials stored on other Internet sites, nor it is liable for any inaccurate, defamatory, offensive, or illegal materials found on other Internet sites, and that the risk of injury from viewing, hearing, downloading, or storing such materials rests entirely with the user. The City of Berkeley does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations, and disclaims any and all liability for their contents.

     General Links Policy

     General Criteria. Links to outside entities must provide a benefit to the City and persons using CoBWEB by:

    • Providing public notice of a specific event which is open to the public and has received City sponsorship in the form of a City Council resolution; or
    • Advancing goals established by the City Council. 

     Links to Vendors. To avoid the perception that the City endorses or provides favorable treatment to any private person or business enterprise, the City does not allow corporate or commercial logos or direct Links to vendor sites.

    Requests for Links. The City does not accept requests for placement of Links on CoBWEB .  Any City employee who receives a request to place a Link on CoBWEB shall state that requests are not accepted and refer the requestor to the City’s Public Information Officer (PIO). The PIO may obtain or accept relevant information from the requestor about the good or service it provides, and may then determine whether a Link to that requestor would comply with this policy and if so, whether or not to create such Link.

    Links Potentially Permissible throughout CoBWEB. The following types of Links may be permitted throughout CoBWEB, subject to approval by the PIO, if they comport with the general policy set forth above.

    • Links to other governmental agencies;
    • Links to organizations that have received formal sponsorship from the City of Berkeley in the form of a City Council resolution, or with which the City has entered into a joint initiative to achieve a City objective.

    Videostreaming Policy

    The City of Berkeley provides videostreaming on its website in the form of both live video streams and of archived videos.

    An index to all videos available on the web is located  at http://berkeley.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=5.  

    All links to videos throughout the City of Berkeley website will be identified by a videostreaming icon (Image removed.) to designate that the hyperlink is associated with a video stream and subject to this policy.

    All City of Berkeley video clips must have text transcriptions or descriptions so that information transfer is not solely dependent upon these technologies.

    To view and hear our webcasts, your computer must have a sound card, a minimum 56 Kbps Internet connection, and Windows Media Player or the Silverlight plugin for Windows/MacOSX.  The Silverlight Plugin supports provides streaming capability for Firefox, Safari and Chrome on the Mac in addition to Internet Explorer on Windows. Live and/or taped coverage of most public meetings can also be viewed on cable television Public Access Stations B-TV Channel 28 and C-TV Channel 33.   

    For more information, please contact the City of Berkeley's Web Manager, 2180 Milvia Street, 4th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704. 

    Notice to Investors

    No information on the City's website is intended to be the basis of or should be relied upon in making an investment decision.

    The information on this website is not posted for the purpose of reaching the investing public, including bondholders, rating analysts, investment advisors, or any other members of the investment community.

    Because each security issued by the City or its related entities may involve different sources of payment and security, you should refer for additional information to the official statement and continuing disclosure filings for the particular security, which can be found on the Municipal Security Rulemaking Board's Electronic Municipal Market Access website.