 |
|
|
|
|
|
||
      |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||
 |
| Web Style Guide |
| IRT Information |
Good images provide relief to the eye, interest to the mind, and can be indispensable to understanding some topics. The best sites provide both strong text and excellent images.
Copyright | Photos and privacy | Image alt tags | Image resources
Copyright
Please obey copyright laws. Don't assume that because they have found an image on the Web, even on a School of Medicine site, that the image is free to use, unless clearly marked for that purpose.
Here are some legitimate channels for obtaining images:
Icon image resources - A number have been provided for free by IRT, details below
Your camera - Privacy restrictions may apply; see details below
Your projects - Images that emerge from research can be some of the most compelling and interesting visuals you can have on your site. Always keep and eye out for the eye/brain candy. Be careful not to disclose patient identities.
Image owners, with permission - You can always contact the owner of an image to request permission to use it, but make sure the person has the right to grant permission because they own the image, and don't use the image until you have permission.
Stock photos - If you are looking for School of Medicine logos or Medical Center photos, some stock images are available in our images cataolgue. IRT has a number of CDs with stock photos. If you'd like to peruse the collection, you should probably visit Koorosh during his office hours, Tuesdays noon to 2 p.m.
Web Help has some limited ability to help with branding and illustrative art. You'll never know if you don't ask. Use the webhelp.stanford.edu form to ask about art for your site. Be specific about what you need and what you are looking for.
Your Photos and Privacy
When taking photographs to use on your site, be sensitive to privacy. Every person on the Stanford campus has a reasonable expectation of privacy, even in public spaces. HIPAA makes protection of patient identities a legal requirement.
Don't publish any recognizable face unless you have at the very least a verbal agreement that it's ok for you to do so. Photos for the purpose of providing portraits of faculty and staff should be fine, as long as the subject provides the image or agrees to be photographed.
A signed release from all of a photo's discernable subjects is the gold standard for photo privacy, and it is routine for professional photographers to gather them during an assignment. Liability should be small if there is at least a verbal agreement from the subject(s) that it's OK to use the photo on the Web site.
Image Alt Tags
Provide "ALT" information for all images, no matter how large or small. ALT information is used by the visually disabled, and by others who have suppressed graphics in their browser. Graphics without Alt information, even small, trivial ones, create speed-bumps for text-only page readers. It is acceptable to set the Alt to " " (the space character), especially for small graphics.
Select a graphic to change the Alt. In Dreamweaver, look for the ALT field in the Properties Inspector. In Contribute, use the menu sequence Format > Image Properties... and look for the "Description (ALT text)" field.
Image Resources
Each new School of Medicine subsite comes with a pre-loaded images folder. Look for the folder at your site root, i.e. yoursite/images/
Icon resources - Downloadable icons from the SoM Web Clips site.
Logo resources - Downloadable School logos and links to Stanford logo resources
Photo resources - A small selection of Medical Center and other Stanford photos you can use
