Online services guidelines

Editorial values
Editorial responsibility
Accuracy
Fairness, contributors, and consent
Privacy
Harm and offence
Children
Politics, elections and polling
War, terror and emergencies
Equal opportunities and diversity
Links to external sites
Credits for outside providers of material
Partnerships, including partnerships with business
Interacting with our audiences
The law
Accountability and complaints

Section 2: Editorial responsibility

Accountabilities
Any operational team placing material on a British Council site must take editorial responsibility for all forms of online content, including text pages, at every stage of their existence.

There must be a clearly understood chain of editorial responsibility for online content in each team and a suitable editorial figure must have oversight of every page.

Director Communications has overall responsibility for the British Council's websites, including editorial standards, and for the design and branding of all our sites.
The Regional Director (for overseas) and Director Communications (in the UK) are responsible for ensuring that new sites and services meet the relevant standards and guidelines. Director Communications retains the right to refuse publication where sites do not meet the necessary requirements.
Sector and business directors in the UK and country directors overseas are accountable for ensuring that all the websites managed by people in their teams comply with these guidelines.
For new sites, formal sign-off by Director Communications may be required.
Director Communications is the contact working with operational teams to ensure that editorial, design and online branding issues are resolved.
Further advice on any aspect of these guidelines can be obtained from the eStrategy Manager, who has day-to-day responsibility for monitoring their implementation, for ensuring that they are kept up to date, and that implementation is supported by training and communication.  
Legal advice may be sought from the British Council’s Legal Adviser

DCSIMG