Website Link Policy

Links to the DIR Website

Advance permission to link to DIR's website(s) is not necessary; however, be aware that DIR subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to the DIR website must continuously verify links to our subpages.

Entities and individuals linking to the DIR website shall not capture DIR pages within frames, present DIR content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent DIR content. Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of DIR content. Certain information on the DIR 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 DIR website should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to DIR unencumbered.

The "Back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Links from the DIR Website

This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external websites must meet to have a link on the DIR website. It also details how links are accepted and removed from the DIR website.

DIR reserves the right to link to external websites that it feels would provide a service or otherwise be of value to constituents.

Acceptance criteria

DIR 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, DIR will consider link requests to non-governmental websites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of DIR, including the websites of DIR-contracted vendors, relevant technology-related associations, and timely and relevant information technology (IT) publications.

The DIR website is not a forum for public communication and debate. The criteria outlined in this section have been established to ensure that the DIR website remains a non-public forum.

Every link request must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of DIR. Links are approved for DIR based on the following criteria:

• The external website corresponds with the purpose of DIR.
• The site's content is appropriate with respect to the purpose of DIR.
• 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.

DIR reserves the right to deny links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of DIR, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above.

Review process

1. Email link requests to askdir@dir.texas.gov indicating "Link Request" in the subject line. Each link request should address how the site meets the acceptance criteria outlined above.
2. The link request will be reviewed against the acceptance criteria set forth above. The decision of the DIR General Counsel is final as to whether the requesting site may have a link from DIR.
3. Approved sites must comply with the following conditions for link maintenance and may be required to enter into a written linking agreement with DIR.

Conditions for link maintenance

To give superior customer service to citizens and businesses accessing governmental information and services through DIR, we require that external websites linked from DIR 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 DIR customer support system. If the site excessively burdens the DIR customer support system, DIR has discretion to take linked site off of the DIR website.
• When the user clicks on the external website link, he/she must have easy access back to DIR. One of two options can accomplish this:
  • A link to DIR can be established on the external website's main page.
  • The "Back" button returns the user to DIR.
• 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. DIR encourages linked sites to comply with industry-accepted accessibility standards to ensure that persons with disabilities may access these sites.
• Linked sites must notify DIR if the site to which DIR links becomes inaccurate or inactive.

Removal Process

DIR reserves the right to remove links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of DIR, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above. 

Links from DIR 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 DIR General Counsel is final as to whether a link is to be removed from DIR.