Website Policy
Purpose
The purpose of the Town of Normal's web sites (including normal.org, npd.org, and childrensdiscoverymuseum.net) is to provide the public with convenient and efficient access to information about Normal's programs, services and departments and to provide convenient online services. The Town website is a non-public forum owned and operated by the Town solely for Town authorized purposes.
Linking
In order to provide the user with information about cultural, educational, and recreational activities in the community, the Town's web site may contain links to other web sites that are not owned, regularly reviewed, or controlled by the Town. The Town of Normal website has many links to, and may be linked from, other websites, including federal, state and local government agencies, non-commercial organizations and private businesses. The Town specifically disavows legal responsibility for what a user may find on another site. The existence of those links neither constitutes nor implies endorsement of the destination or departure websites or of the content, viewpoint, accuracy, opinions, policies, or products of said destination or departure websites. Nor does any link between Town websites and a third-party website imply sponsorship of such website, or the creator of such website. Links to other websites from the Town of Normal website must be approved by the Town. Any requests for links should be directed to the Webmaster at webmaster@normal.org.
When you follow a link to another site, you are no longer on the Town of Normal website and these Website Policies will not apply. When you leave our site, we strongly encourage you to read the privacy statement of each website that you visit before you provide any personal information.
Accuracy
The Town of Normal has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. The information and materials contained on this web site have been compiled from a variety of sources and, as such, are subject to change without notice. Therefore, the Town cannot warrant the accuracy, completeness, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, and shall not be held liable for any damages caused by the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his/her own risk. Please contact the Town of Normal at (309) 454-2444, to verify the accuracy of the data.
Privacy
The security of the personal information you provide to the Town of Normal is very important to us. If you choose to provide us with personal information, in any electronic manner, we use that information solely for the purpose of responding to your concern or request. We do not collect personal information for any other reason than to respond to you. We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law.
When you visit our website we gather and store certain information about your visit, including the IP address and domain name used, browser and operating system type, the date and time, the pages or resources you accessed, and the website that referred you to us. This information is analyzed to determine how our website is being used so that we may continually improve the site's usefulness to the public. This information does not identify you personally.
Nondisclosure of Certain Personal Information
The Town of Normal is the sole owner of the information collected on its site. We do not use personal information that you provide to us for any commercial purposes unless we clearly notify you and ask your permission first. We will not sell, share, rent or otherwise disclose your personal information to any organization or individual outside the Town of Normal. The exceptions to this policy of non-disclosure are for law enforcement purposes and as required under the Freedom of Information Act or other applicable laws.
Cookies
The Town of Normal websites do not use "persistent cookies." Cookies are pieces of information utilized to authenticate, track, and maintain user information. The Town uses "temporary cookies" on some parts of its websites, and such temporary cookies expire upon the end of the browsing session.
Security
The Town of Normal has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to the Town's network. The Town maintains ongoing efforts to identify and prevent corruption of data, block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information, and to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession. The Town has implemented industry standard or better security measures and systems into the design, implementation and day to day operation of the websites, and their underlying servers and networks.
Some information that you submit through this Web site is protected by encryption technology, some is not. As a general rule, all personal and financial information is encrypted. The Town of Normal uses a secure website (secure.normal.org) to protect personal and financial information sent to and from the Town. A 128-bit SSL certificate from the VeriSign Trust Network verifies that secure.normal.org is operated by the Town of Normal and encrypts the information that is transmitted to and from the site. Encryption makes it very difficult for unauthorized people to view information traveling between computers. Most browsers will show a security icon (usually a closed lock or unbroken key) to indicate the use of a secure site.
In some instances, users will need to receive or create a password or PIN number to access or submit personally identifiable information. One should not divulge a password or PIN to anyone, and the Town will never ask a user for a password in a telephone call, fax, e-mail or other form of communication. When a user is finished with an application or applications that are password protected, such user should exit the relevant page(s). If the browser used to access said password protected pages is a publicly-accessible browser, users should close down the entire session and, if possible, flush any caches or other areas where such a password might be stored after use.
Accessibility
We strive towards providing websites that are accessible to users of all abilities. Our pages are intended to be compatible with screen readers and text-only browsers. To help accomplish this, we will attempt to follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, especially the following points:
- Follow HTML Standards – XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS2
- Use descriptive title elements
- Use H1, H2, H3… for document structure
- Use relative font sizes in CSS (do not use the <font> tag)
- Use the alt attribute to provide text alternatives for all images
- Audio and video content shall have text transcriptions or descriptions available
- Hyperlink text shall be descriptive (no 'click here' links)
- All hyperlinks to non HTML pages will include the document type at the end of the link (like PDF, PPT, or DOC)
- Specific contact information (position or department) will be provided on each page if applicable. City Hall contact information is available at the end of each page
- Minimize the use of tables for layout
- Frames will not be used
Intellectual Property
The content of the Town's web pages is copyrighted, and contains some third party images/graphics that are used with permission. Users are notified, therefore, that one should presume the need to obtain permission from the copyright holder before reproducing or otherwise using content or images/graphics from this website.
Disclaimer
The user of the Town's web sites agrees by its web site use that user waives any and all claims against the Town of Normal, its officials and employees, for any injury caused by the disclosure of user's information, whether by security breach, accident, inadvertence, or any other act resulting in disclosure. User agrees that any claim by user against the Town of Normal, its officers and employees will be brought only in State Court in McLean County Illinois. User waives the right to litigate any action against the Town, its officials and employees in Federal Court or in any non-Illinois court. This statement and the policies outlined here are not intended to and do not give you any contractual or other legal rights. The Town of Normal may change this policy from time to time, and reserves the right to do so without notice. Any changes will be posted to our web site in a timely manner.