Links to the OCCC Website
Advance permission to link to OCCC's website(s) is not necessary; however, be aware that OCCC subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to the OCCC website must continuously verify links to our subpages.
Entities and individuals linking to the OCCC website shall not capture OCCC pages within frames, present OCCC content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent OCCC content. Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of OCCC content. Certain information on the OCCC website may be trademarked, service-marked, or otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property.
Any link to the OCCC website should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to OCCC unencumbered.
The "Back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.
Links from the OCCC Website
This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external websites must meet to have a link on the OCCC website. It also details how links are accepted and removed from the OCCC website.
OCCC reserves the right to link to external websites that it feels would provide a service or otherwise be of value to constituents.
Acceptance criteria
OCCC links to federal, state, and local government websites that provide information and services of benefit to Texas citizens, Texas local government, and Texas state agencies. At its discretion, OCCC will consider link requests to non-governmental websites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of OCCC, including the websites of OCCC-contracted vendors, relevant technology-related associations, and timely and relevant information technology (IT) publications.
The OCCC website is not a forum for public communication and debate. The criteria outlined in this section have been established to ensure that the OCCC website remains a non-public forum.
Every link request must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of OCCC. Links are approved for OCCC based on the following criteria:
- The external website corresponds with the purpose of OCCC.
- The site's content is appropriate with respect to the purpose of OCCC.
The site does not exhibit hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or otherwise defamatory content; advocate or promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, or currently illegal substances; belong to or support a political affiliation; or further the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office.
OCCC reserves the right to deny links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of OCCC, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above.
Review Process
Email link requests to webmaster@occc.texas.gov indicating "Link Request" in the subject line. Each link request should address how the site meets the acceptance criteria outlined above.
The link request will be reviewed against the acceptance criteria set forth above. The decision of the OCCC is final as to whether the requesting site may have a link from OCCC.
Approved sites must comply with the following conditions for link maintenance and may be required to enter into a written linking agreement with OCCC.
Conditions for Link Maintenance
To give superior customer service to citizens and businesses accessing governmental information and services through OCCC, we require that external websites linked from OCCC meet the following conditions:
The external site must provide the user with access to an email address and/or a customer service telephone number so that users may contact the site if there are problems with format, accuracy, timeliness, or payment processing.
Linked sites should not excessively burden the OCCC customer support system. If the site excessively burdens the OCCC customer support system, OCCC has discretion to take linked site off of the OCCC website.
When the user clicks on the external website link, he/she must have easy access back to OCCC. One of two options can accomplish this:
- A link to OCCC can be established on the external website's main page.
- The "Back" button returns the user to OCCC.
Linked sites must have a privacy and security policy accessible from their home page informing the user of what information is collected, how it is collected, and how it is used. OCCC encourages linked sites to comply with industry-accepted accessibility standards to ensure that persons with disabilities may access these sites.
Linked sites must notify OCCC if the site to which OCCC links becomes inaccurate or inactive.
Removal Process
OCCC reserves the right to remove links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of OCCC, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above.
Links from OCCC will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:
- The link no longer points to the original information or resource to which it was intended to point.
- The website pointed to by the link contains inaccurate or misleading information or has changed such that it is no longer in compliance with the acceptance criteria.
- The website pointed to by the link violates the conditions for link maintenance.
- Access to the information has become difficult due to non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising.
- The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period.
- The external website fails to comply with the written linking agreement, if any.
The decision of the OCCC is final as to whether a link is to be removed from OCCC.
Removal Process
For questions or concerns regarding the linking policy, email us.