Editorial justification for linking to external sites
Criteria for linking to external sites or other content
Editorial checks
Disclaimers
Controversial content
Undue prominence
Automatically generated links
Use of commercial logos on British Council sites
Third party software for visitors to British Council sites
Software downloads
Logos and credits within software commissioned by the British Council

Introduction
The British Council’s global reputation is based on its status as a non-political body working for mutuality. We must not undermine these values by any actions which could bring the British Council into disrepute.

Editorial justification for linking to external sites
Site managers may wish to offer links to external sites for a number of reasons, including:

			for further relevant information
			for further background information or other source material
			for useful practical information
			for further informed comment
			as part of an agreed sponsorship offer with relevant organisations who add value to our services
			to affiliate sites where we have agreements for sharing revenues from sales.

All links on the British Council site must be editorially justifiable.

Criteria for linking to external sites or other content
Criteria for linking to third-party sites will vary depending on the reason for offering a link.

In general terms, the external site must:

			be factually accurate and of high quality
			be relevant to the British Council content from where the link is included
			meet the needs of the audience
			meet the expectations of the likely audience, for example, a link from a British Council site which is likely to appeal to a high proportion of children must contain content that is suitable for children; it must not contain content that is clearly unsuitable for children
			be regularly reviewed and refreshed where necessary
			normally be free to access.

Editorial checks
Authors must check the contents of the site that is signposted to ensure that it meets the criteria listed above before installing a link on a British Council page. The same check must be repeated regularly after the link is established.

We must not link to an external site if it would be clearly inappropriate for the British Council to recommend a visit. We must ensure that the establishment of any link does not damage the British Council's reputation for editorial integrity. Guidelines on 'harm and offence' must also be very carefully considered.

Authors of British Council pages that maintain a list of non-British Council links must visit them regularly to review and possibly refresh the mix and to check that they are still working properly.

Disclaimers
We must do nothing to 'own' or support the message, information or promotions on external sites. Where we provide links or a list of links to external sites we must add the following disclaimer immediately after the link or list of links: The British Council is not responsible for the contents of any external sites.

Controversial content
British Council sites that cover a controversial or public policy matter may offer links to external sites that, taken together, represent a reasonable range of views about the subject. We must ensure that when we link to third-party sites we take into account risks of breaching national law (for example, concerning defamation or incitement to racial hatred), or risks of infringing the principles and standards set out in the organisation’s own policies (including equal opportunities and diversity, and child protection).  

Undue prominence
The British Council must not unfairly promote any commercial organisation except where agreed sponsorship is in place. See section 14 (Partnerships, including partnerships with business). Great care must be taken when linking to any commercial site to ensure that we do not give the impression that the British Council is unfairly endorsing any commercial product or service.

Automatically generated links
Before offering automatically generated links to external sites from British Council content, we will need to think carefully about:

			whether the content is suitable for this method
			linking to external sites only where we can select from appropriate, recognised and reputable sources
			which content pages may be editorially suitable for this method
			how long the links should remain
			how we can ensure that the material on the pages/sites being linked to are regularly monitored for quality and accuracy
			legal risks
			how to remove automated links quickly.

Content producers must refer to the Senior Internet Business Development Manager before installing such links.

Use of commercial logos on British Council sites
Editorial references to companies or outside organisations should not normally contain any use of their logo. Use of commercial logos on British Council sites must be justified either editorially or for defined commercial reasons. See section 14 (Partnerships, including partnerships with business).

If links are given to outside sites there is no technical reason to use a logo and a text link should generally be used. With the agreement of the Senior Internet Business Development Manager, it may be acceptable to use icons when software needs to be downloaded.

Third party software for visitors to British Council sites
Visitors to a British Council site must be given clear guidance about the software they will need to operate particular files. They must be told in advance if applications they wish to download only work with particular software or on particular hardware platforms. This must be done in a non-promotional way. In some cases we may decide that there are only one or two suitable suppliers for a particular application. In such cases we must offer links to enable those who visit our sites to download the appropriate software. If alternatives are available, we must offer a choice of links, as it is essential that the British Council is not seen to promote any particular software manufacturer. Any such link must be presented in a non-promotional manner. The provision of links must be approved by the Senior Internet Business Development Manager. Commercial logos or icons may be used only with express prior permission as outlined above.

Software downloads
With the express prior agreement of the Senior Internet Business Development Manager, it may be acceptable to use small product logos on the page where free software needs to be downloaded so that the visitor can get full use from the relevant British Council site. It may also be acceptable for the logo to link directly to the appropriate download site (e.g. in the case of audio streaming software). But this must be done in a non-promotional way. See below for more details.

Logos and credits within software commissioned by the British Council
Staff commissioning other software applications from outside companies must ensure that corporate logos that would be visible to the user are either removed or dealt with in the same way as animations, videos and movies. The inclusion of corporate logos embedded in an image may amount to undue prominence. If in doubt, staff must refer to Senior Internet Business Development Manager before agreeing the terms of the commission.