Guide for photos, videos and other multimedia on division websites

Including photos on your division website is an excellent way to add visual interest to your website, bring attention to a webpage and modernize the look and feel of your division website. APA’s brand and creative team has specific brand standards regarding the types of images and quality of images used on APA web properties. APA’s web team recognizes that divisions may have specific needs and considerations regarding photos on their APA-hosted sites, and this page provides information about the use of images and photos and other multimedia on division sites. As always, questions or concerns about images can be directed to APA’s division web editors at updates@apa.org.

Please know that if photos submitted by the division are of poor quality (grainy, pixelated, blurry, small, etc.), then APA’s division web editors may follow up with the division and ask that the division provide higher resolution photos. In some cases, APA may be able to provide better quality photos, but APA cannot guarantee that it will have better quality photos available. The moral of this story: Please supply high-resolution photos when you submit your request.   

APA’s legal team advises divisions to get individuals to sign off on the use of their images using a photo release form. APA’s legal team has provided a sample photo release form and video release form. 

When using photos or videos on your division’s website, make sure that you have two types of requisite permission: 1. Permission from the owner of the photo, video or other media, which is typically the person or entity that took the photo; and 2. permission from any individuals featured in the photo or video to have their image used publicly online. Attached is a sample photo release form and video release form from APA’s legal team that you can use to ensure you have written permission from the subjects of your videos and photos before putting them online, you and your division should keep records of these forms.

The only exception to when you may not need the forms would be at an event sponsored by the division, in which the division makes clear in writing, or via online notices, event promotion or signage at the event, that attendance at the event includes the possibility that photos and/or videos of the attendees may be used online. In this scenario, the division should also make sure that the photographer at the event, whether hired or volunteer, has signed over ownership of the photos to the division. Most professional photographers/videographers address ownership over the work product in contracts.

Your division is responsible for obtaining these permissions and/or posting notices before you submit photos and videos to be uploaded and displayed on your APA-hosted website. 

Questions about photo and video releases can be directed to APA Associate General Counsel Nina Tandon.

Candid shots, such as those taken at events, should be limited to 10 of the best images, which can be displayed in an image slider widget. An example of this type of image slider widget can be viewed on the Div. 7 website and on the Div. 35 website under the “Featured event images” section of the page. In accordance with best web practices, APA’s team does not display more than one image slider widget per page. Depending on the layout of the page and in keeping with best web practices, APA’s graphic designers and/or APA’s division web editors may also decide to present the photos in a masonry style or stacked.

When submitting photos from events, APA asks that the division also provide a brief description of the photos that can include: (1) the names of the individuals in the photo, (2) the location of where the photo was taken, (3) the date when the photo was taken, (4) the significance of the photo and/or event, and (5) any other relevant and important details that the division may wish to include with the image.

If the division wishes that more than 10 images from an event be displayed, then the division may upload the additional photos to an outside site such as Google Photos, Flickr, etc., and APA’s web team can add a link to this photo hosting site. The division is responsible for setting up and maintaining this outside photo sharing account. If the divisions have questions about the set up of a photo sharing account or would like more information, they are welcome to contact updates@apa.org and one of APA's division web editors can provide initial assistance.

Headshots of division leaders, award winners and other individuals should be submitted in as high a resolution as possible and should be no smaller than 200x200 pixels at 72dpi in size, though larger sizes are preferable. Headshots that have been professionally taken, as opposed to selfies or candid photos, are also preferred.

For divisions wishing to add visual interest to their newsletters, APA’s brand and creative team will select and edit a feature image to go with the feature article in a newsletter issue. For example, the Div. 49 newsletter issue includes a feature image to go with the president’s column.

Text embedded in graphics is discouraged, as this is poor for accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO). Additionally, the text is at risk of getting cut off with dynamic resizing and cropping.

APA’s brand and creative team will also select and edit images to go with webpage templates and updates that require them. These images will be selected from APA’s stock image subscription. The division may provide guidance on the type of photos to be used, but the final decision will be made by APA’s brand and creative team and/or by APA’s division web editors.

At this time, APA does not have the resources to search for, select and edit stock images to go with every division newsletter article. For this reason, if the division would like stock images to go with newsletter articles, then the division must provide these images when the newsletter template is submitted. The division should ensure that it has permission to use the stock images submitted and that any attribution language to go with the images is included when the images are submitted. Divisions seeking low cost or free stock images can peruse open source image libraries such as Wikimedia Commons. Stock images submitted should be of the highest quality available.

The division is also welcome to submit images that are related to the content of division newsletter articles, such as author headshots, an event photo or other relevant imagery. When submitting these photos, APA asks that the division submit the best quality photos available and abide by the other best practices described in this guide.

APA is only able to embed YouTube videos on APA-hosted division websites. If the division wishes to embed a video on a webpage, it must first upload the video to YouTube and then send a link to the video and/or the embed code to APA’s web team at updates@apa.org. APA’s web team cannot directly post videos submitted as mp4 files, Google Drive videos, Vimeo videos, or other video formats on division webpages. If the division wishes to direct visitors to its website to a Google Drive video, Vimeo video or video shared on another site other than YouTube, then a link to the video can be added to the division website.

The division is responsible for creating and maintaining any video sharing accounts, such as those provided by YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, etc. Questions about setting up an account, however, can be directed to updates@apa.org, and APA’s division web editors will do their best to help.

When submitting a video for posting, the division should first review APA’s website update request guide, which includes details about the information needed by APA’s web team to post videos. Video posts may be completed within 3-5 business days, though they may also require more time, depending on the resources that APA has available at the time of the request.

Divisions are encouraged to submit transcripts with video posting requests but they are not required to do so at this time.

When the division websites were originally migrated to the APA-hosted platform, APA’s brand and creative team created new logos for the divisions. However, APA does not create and design new logos for divisions.

If a division wishes to redesign its logo, APA asks that the division reach out to APA’s division web editors at updates@apa.org to inform them that the division is undertaking a redesign process. When the new logo is placed on the division’s website, it will be sized to a max-width of 450 and a max-height of 50px.

To ensure a high quality appearance, the division should provide the following:

• A transparent .png version of the logo sized at 480x50 pixels.
• A higher resolution, best quality version of the logo, if available. 
• A vector file version of the logo (either .ai or .eps), if available.

The version of the logo submitted must be clear and sharp and not blurry or pixelated.

APA’s web team may require additional time beyond the usual 3-5 business day timeframe to update the logo on the division’s APA-hosted website.

To update the division’s APA-hosted website to match a new logo, APA’s brand and creative team also may recommend that the division’s website color scheme also be updated. Under these circumstances, APA’s divisions web editors will work with the division to update the color scheme. Some examples of APA-hosted division website color schemes include:

• Scheme A (bright blue global navigation bar and olive green accents): Example, Div. 6’s website
• Scheme C (brick red global navigation bar and green and grey accents): Example, Div. 39’s website
• Scheme D (navy global navigation bar and bright blue accents): Example, Div. 18’s website
• Scheme E (green global navigation bar and gold and dark red accents): Example, Div. 31’s website
  

For more information about color schemes, please contact APA’s division web editors at updates@apa.org.

For any other questions or for additional information about the use of photos, images, video or other multimedia on division websites, please contact APA’s division web editors at updates@apa.org, and they will be happy to provide more details.