In addition to the requirements in the State Link and Privacy Policy, this section outlines the criteria and requirements that external web sites must meet to have a link from State Auditor's Office (Agency). It also details how links are accepted and removed from the Agency's web site.
Criteria
The fundamental purpose of the agency's web site is to provide information regarding the agency's goverment services and government functions. Specifically, the Agency provides information about the operations of state agencies and universities to legislators, agency management, and the citizens of the State. The Agency web site is dedicated to making this information available electronically.
The Agency accepts link requests made by federal, state, and local governments that provide information and services that benefit Texas citizens and businesses. At its discretion, the Agency may link to non-governmental web sites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of the Agency.
Every link request must undergo review by the SAO Internet Team to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the mission of the Agency's web site. Links are approved for the Agency's web site based on the following criteria:
The external web site conforms to the Agency's web site's design and mission of private, secure, convenient, efficient, customer service-oriented, and accessible access to government information and services.
The site's content is appropriate with respect to the Agency's web site's mission and is not a:
Purely commercial site that sells government information that is otherwise free to the public; (This does not include government sites themselves.)
Site that promotes hate, bias, violence, illegal discrimination or contains pornography,libelous, or otherwise defamatory content;
Site belonging to or supporting a political affiliation; or
Site that furthers the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office.
The Agency reserves the right to deny or remove links if it determines that a web site contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the mission of the Agency's web site, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above or set out below in the Requirements.
Requirements
To give superior customer service to citizens and businesses accessing governmental information and services through the Agency's web site, links to external web sites must meet the following requirements:
The linked site must provide the user with an email address and/or a customer service telephone number on every page of the site, in order for users to contact the site if there are problems with format, accuracy, timeliness, or accessibility.
When the user selects the external web site link, he/she must have easy access back to the Agency's web site. One of two options can accomplish this: a link to Agency's web site can be established on the external web site's main page; or the "Back" button remains enabled and returns the user to the Agency's web site.
Linked sites must have a privacy and security policy accessible from their home pages informing the user of what information is collected, how it is collected, how it is used, and how the user can review and correct the information.
Linked sites must comply with accepted standards as provided by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure that persons with disabilities may access these sites. Texas state agencies must follow the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §206 State Web Sites.
Removal Process
Links from the Agency's web site will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:
The link no longer points to the original information or resource;
The information pointed to by the link is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise violates the criteria and requirements set forth above in the sections entitled "Criteria" and "Requirements;"
Access to the information has become difficult due to non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising;
The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period, especially if we are unable to contact the site manager about the site's status;
The Agency reserves the right to remove links to any site at its discretion.
