Rules for linking
SF.gov external linking guidance
Endorsement
When you link to an external website, it is an endorsement. You must have a good reason for choosing one website over the other. The website you are linking to must be a safe, trustworthy place to send a user. Do your due diligence to minimize risks in the future.
Maintenance
Links can break without warning. You don’t have control over external websites. Plan how you are going to maintain your links. Pages higher up a website’s navigational structure are more stable, so link to a site’s homepage over linking to a PDF on that site, where you can.
The more links you have, the more effort you will need to put in to maintain them. Be intentional and mindful of your “curation” of links. Keep them up to date by running a content audit every couple of months, either manually or using a content audit site to crawl your pages. And remember, you don’t have to recreate the internet!
Transparency
If your link requires a login, authentication, or registration, let the users know upfront. Use text or icon to indicate a link that is not directly available on the internet.
Usability and accessibility
Check if the site works on mobile. Read its privacy and cookie policies, if you can.
Resources
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