Web Policies

Accessibility

The U.S. Department of Energy is committed to providing access to our web pages for individuals with disabilities. To meet this commitment, this site is built to comply with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from us, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us. Section 508 also requires us to ensure that Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us.

If you use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, a screen reader, TTY, etc.) and the format of any material on our websites interferes with your ability to access the information, please go to "Web Site Feedback" section of the Contact Us page. Please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which to receive the material, the Web address of the requested material and your contact information.

Copyright, Restrictions and Permissions Notice

Government information at DOE websites is in the public domain. Public domain information may be freely distributed and copied, but it is requested that in any subsequent use the Department of Energy be given appropriate acknowledgement. When using DOE websites, you may encounter documents, illustrations, photographs or other information resources contributed or licensed by private individuals, companies or organizations that may be protected by U.S. and foreign copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use as defined in the copyright laws requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Images on our website which are in the public domain may be used without permission. If you use images from our website, we ask that you credit "U.S. Department of Energy" as the source. Please note that some images on our site may have been obtained from other organizations. Permission to use these images should be obtained directly from those organizations.

DOE websites have links to many other websites. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the copyright and licensing restrictions of the new site.

Document Inventory and Schedule

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) developed this inventory of http://energy.gov website content as required by Section 207(f)(2) of the E-Government Act of 2002. This inventory will be expanded and/or refined as needed depending on the information needs of our visitors.

In preparing this inventory, DOE has reviewed information collected as part of the redesign process for ENERGY.gov completed in June 2003, including citizen comments via e-mail, focus groups and usability tests; current website statistics indicating usage of existing content; and related information developed through the Information Quality Guidelines process (per Section 515 of Public Law 106-554, known as the Data Quality Act).

To provide comments or suggestions on this inventory, please send an email to the DOE Webmaster at DOE.Webmaster@hq.doe.gov.

For more information about the web content inventory and the E-Gov Act, please visit these links:

• Summary of Requirements from the Federal Web Content Managers Toolkit
• Section 207 of the E-Gov Act
   

Linking Policy

For Visitors to Our Websites

Hyperlinks to a website are only allowed if the website is sponsored, supported or partnered with by DOE; is educational in nature; or is another government web site, including those sites sponsored by state or local governments.

DOE will not allow any hyperlinks to any websites that advocate hate, bias or discrimination, or which contains information or hyperlinks associated with partisan political activity.

Links may be made to our website from other personal and organizational web pages. We request that you link to our site rather than downloading portions of it to another web server, so that our viewers will see our most up-to-date information.

Required Links

The following items are mandatory links for all DOE websites:

• Strategic plan and annual performance plans 
• Descriptions of agency organizational structure, mission and statutory authority 
• Information made available under the Freedom of Information Act 
• Specific website privacy policies 
• USA.gov
• Summary statistical data about equal employment opportunity complaints filed with the agency and written notification of "Whistleblower" rights and protections as required by the No Fear Act of 2002 
• The agency point of contact for small businesses as required by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 
• Other cross-government portals or links required by law or policy

Disclaimer

DOE websites contain links to many websites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. We provide these links as a service to our users. When users link to an outside website, they are leaving the DOE site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website(s).

Disclaimer of Endorsement

• DOE does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website and does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations.  
• DOE does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer. 
• DOE can not authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website. 
• DOE is not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites. 
• DOE does not guarantee that outside websites comply with the requirements of Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

For DOE Elements

Required Links

The following items are mandatory links for all DOE websites: 

• Program strategic plan and annual performance plans 
• Descriptions of office organizational structure, mission and statutory authority 
• The DOE Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act Office at http://energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/freedom-information-act
• The DOE website privacy policy at http://energy.gov/about-us/web-policies/privacy
• This page (the DOE Web Policies page)
• The DOE summary statistical data about equal employment opportunity complaints filed with the agency and written notification of "Whistleblower" rights and protections as required by the No Fear Act of 2002 at http://energy.gov/diversity
• The DOE point of contact for small businesses as required by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 at http://energy.gov/diversity
• The Information Quality Guidelines at http://energy.gov/cio/information-quality
• USA.gov 
• The White House

Linking Policy for External Links

(1) The ability to hyperlink to sources external to the organization is a fundamental part of the World Wide Web, and can add significant value to the functionality of publicly accessible DOE websites. Hyperlinks to a website are only allowed if the website is sponsored, supported or partnered with by DOE; is educational in nature; or is another government website, including those sites sponsored by state or local governments. DOE Elements must establish objective and supportable criteria or guidelines for the selection of links to external web pages under the following guidance:

• DOE Elements will not allow any hyperlinks to any website that exhibits hate, bias or discrimination, or which contains information or hyperlinks associated with partisan political activity.
• Links to non-DOE web resources must support the organization's mission. In determining whether to allow access to a hyperlink, DOE Elements must consider the following factors:
  --Is the recommended website an official government-owned or supported website? 
  --Does the recommended website provide official government information or services? 
  --Does the recommended website complement existing information on Energy.gov? 
  --Is the recommended website accessible and applicable to a wide audience? 
  --Is the recommended website's content relevant, useful and authoritative for citizens, businesses and/or government officials? 
  --Does the recommended website's information appear to be accurate and current? 
  --Is the recommended website's approach to the privacy of personal information consistent with the government's privacy and security policies? 
  --Is the recommended website "user-friendly?"
• External links should be reviewed on an established schedule to ensure their continued suitability. If the content of a linked external site becomes questionable or objectionable, remove the link. The schedule must be included in the linking policy.
• No product endorsements or preferential treatment must be given on publicly accessible official DOE websites.
• No payment of any kind must be accepted in exchange for a link placed on an organization's publicly accessible official DOE website.
• Publicly accessible DOE websites must not require or encourage users to choose any specific browser software. Only text or hyperlinked text must be used to direct visitors to software download sites. Graphics or logos depicting companies/products must not appear on publicly accessible DOE websites.
• When external links to non-government websites are included, the head of the DOE Element, or the subordinate organization, is responsible for ensuring that visitors are notified by one of the following actions:
  
  • Placing a generic icon (not graphic or logo depicting companies/products) next to the link and linking to the Disclaimer statement at http://energy.gov/about-us/web-policies; or 
  • Inserting an intercepting page that displays the Disclaimer statement at http://energy.gov/about-us/web-policies, after the user selects the link; or
  • Displaying all non-federal links in a separate listing from federal links and including the text: "The following links are subject to the DOE disclaimer." and linking it to the Disclaimer statement at http://energy.gov/about-us/web-policies; or
  • Identifying the destination web site in the link text or description itself.

(2)  Notification: DOE public websites must notify visitors when they are leaving the website for a non-federal government website. It is not mandatory for DOE public websites to notify visitors when they are leaving the website for another federal government website. 

(3)  Disclaimers:  Federal public websites must disclaim responsibility for the content and privacy policies used by non-federal government websites. In the interest of seamless government and maintaining the general public's trust, federal public websites should not disclaim responsibility for the content of other federal public websites. As noted, all hyperlinks to non-government websites must be accompanied by one of the actions found above.

Exceptions: Organizations are not responsible for maintaining links contained in documents or reports belonging to another organization or entity that are republished on the website.

This policy complies with the Office of Management & Budget policy and USA.gov guidance for establishing and maintaining publicly accessible information services.