When expeditions or projects are featured on the oceanexplorer.noaa.gov website, all text should be accompanied by multimedia elements to illustrate concepts and provide additional context to website visitors. Multimedia can include images, videos, or audio files.
In general, all content on the website resides in the public domain, meaning that it holds no copyright; copyrighted media will be posted only on a limited basis and with special request.
By default, all multimedia will be credited to the expedition/project, with the option of including partner organizations; for example: Image courtesy of Field Validation of Novel Low-Cost Underwater Robot for Deepwater Exploration and Characterization.
The default credit will be agreed upon during the communications and web planning call and will be used unless other instructions are provided. Individuals can be included in credits per request; for example: Image courtesy of April Cook, Nova Southeastern University..
Non-copyrighted images should be submitted without any text or watermark added to the image. Images should be submitted as separate files, NOT embedded in a document. Images can be submitted as jpeg (preferred), gif, tif, png, or psd files with the following properties:
If you are using an iPhone to take images, please change the default format for images taken with an iPhone from HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format, with a .heic file extension) to jpeg. HEIF images are not broadly compatible for use on the web; while the Communications Team can convert HEIF images to a usable format, if possible, updating the default image format to jpeg prior to collecting any photos would be extremely helpful and most appreciated. To do this: 1) open the "Settings" app on your phone; 2) go to "Camera;"" 3) choose "Formats;"" 4) select "Most Compatible."
Please send the largest, highest-resolution version of an image available; the NOAA Ocean Exploration Communications Team will generate the needed sizes for the site.
Each image should be accompanied by a descriptive two- to three-sentence caption. If a specific credit (i.e., not the default credit) is required, it should be included in the caption information.
In the event that internet connectivity is an issue on a ship, low-resolution versions of images can be sent for posting during the expedition or project, with high-resolution photos sent via email for posting on the website after the expedition/project has ended.
If video is available, it can be posted on the website. The NOAA Ocean Exploration Communications Team may be available to assist in editing video clips on request. Keep in mind that online attention spans tend to be short, so videos that are under two minutes in length will be most successful (shorter is better).
If audio narration accompanies the video, a full transcript is requested, but the NOAA Ocean Exploration Communications Team can assist in transcribing short videos if needed; transcription of videos posted on all .gov websites is required by federal law. The use of music requires that you have the rights to that music and it will be assumed that this is the case for any videos submitted for posting.
Video can be submitted in the .mp4, .mov., .wmv, .avi, or .mpg format. The .mp4 format is preferred.
Video settings:
Each video should be accompanied by a descriptive two- to three-sentence caption. If a specific credit (i.e., not the default credit) is required, it should be included in the caption information.
Each video should have an outro screen at the end of the video that minimally includes the oceanexplorer.noaa.gov url as the primary source for the video.