Benchmarking Web Sites Workshop For RSC South East - 16 November 2004

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Brian Kelly co-facilitated (with Simon Ball, Techdis) a Benchmarking Web Sites workshop for RSC South East which was held at Reading College and School of Arts & Design, Kings Road campus on 16 ^th November 2004.

Abstract

This event will provide an opportunity for participants to benchmark their college (or other) Web site by making use of a range of Web-based tools. Participants will compare their findings in order to try to identify examples of best practices and areas in which improvements may be made. Following the hands-on session there will be a presentation outlining some of the issues associated with this approach to benchmarking. The event will conclude by a group discussion of possible follow-up actions.

Materials

Slides

Benchmarking Web Sites: [HTML format] - [MS PowerPoint 97/2000 format]
QA For Web Sites: [HTML format] - [MS PowerPoint 97/2000 format]
What Next?: [HTML format] - [MS PowerPoint 97/2000 format]

Exercises

Benchmarking Exercises: [MS Word 97/2000 format]
QA Exercises: [MS Word 97/2000 format]

Surveys

A number of surveys of Web sites have been published.

Survey of HTML Compliance: [HTML format]
Survey of CSS Compliance: [HTML format]
Survey of Compliance With Accessibility Guidelines: [HTML format]
Survey of Server Software: [HTML format]
Survey of 404 error pages: [HTML format]
Survey of Search Engines: [HTML format]

Rolling demonstration of FE College Web sites: [HTML format]
Rolling demonstration of 404 pages: [HTML format]

Timetable

The draft timetable, which is subject to change, is given below.

Time	Topic
10:15	Registration & Coffee
10:45	Welcome and Introduction
10:50	'Introduction To Benchmarking Web Sites' - Brian Kelly, UK Web Focus
11:00	'Benchmarking Web Sites' - hands-on session
12:30	Lunch
13:15	Hands-on session (continued)
14:00	Discussion
14:10	Report Back
14:30	Accessibility - Simon Ball
15:00	Quality Assurance - Brian Kelly
15:30	What Next - Brian Kelly
15:45	Workshop ends

Please note that the timetable is subject to change.

URLs Used During Workshop

The following URLs will be used during the workshop.

Exercise	Service	URL
1.1	NetMechanic	<http://www.netmechanic.com/toolbox/html-code.htm#html_sample>
1.2	Doctor HTML	<http://www.doctor-html.com/RxHTML/>
1.3	Webscale Site Timer	<http://www.webscale.com/cgi-bin/timer.dll?Mode=Timer>
1.5	404 Pages	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/ workshops/nemlac-2004-09/surveys/entry-points/> <http://www.alistapart.com/articles/perfect404/> <http://www.plinko.net/404/> <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue20/404/>
2.1	Bobby	<http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/>
2.2	The WAVE	<http://wave.webaim.org/>
2.3	Visicheck	<http://vischeck.com/vischeckURL.php3>
2.4	W3C HTML Validation Service	<http://validator.w3.org/>
2.5	Dr Watson	<http://watson.addy.com/>
2.6	Link Alarm	<http://www.linkalarm.com/>
3.1	Link Popularity	<http://www.linkpopularity.com/>
3.2	Netmechanic	<http://www.netmechanic.com/>
3.3	MarketLeap	<http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/>
3.4	Google	<http://www.google.co.uk/>
3.5	DCS	<http://www.describethis.com/>
4.1	Browser Archive	<http://browsers.evolt.org/>
4.2	Browser Emulators	<http://www.dejavu.org/>
4.3	Lynx Emulator	<http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html>
4.4	Web Page Backward Compatibility Viewer	<http://www.delorie.com/web/wpbcv.html>
4.5	AnyBrowser	<http://www.anybrowser.com/>
5.1	Surveys	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/ events/workshops/nemlac-2004-09/#survey>
5.2	WebWatch Surveys	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/webwatch/articles/#latest>
6.4	Search Engine Software	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/ events/workshops/nemlac-2004-09/surveys/search-engines/> <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/surveys/uk-he-search-engines/>
7.1	Web Server Analysis	<http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/general/wizards/fetchhead.html>
7.2	Web Server Software	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/ events/workshops/nemlac-2004-09/surveys/http/>

Other URLs

The following URLs may also be useful.

Browser Extensions

Service	URL
Bookmarklets	<http://www.bookmarklets.com/>
Cacheability Engine	<http://www.ircache.net/cgi-bin/cacheability.py?action=show_ext>
Extending Your Browser	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue19/web-focus/>
WebWatch Services	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/webwatch/services/>

Evaluating Site Accessibility

Service	URL
Color Readability Test	<http://snow.utoronto.ca/readtest/>
Web Metrics Testbed	<http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/webmet/>
Vischeck	<http://vischeck.com/vischeckURL.php3>

Evaluating Your Organisational Home Page

Service	URL
Dr HTML	<http://www2.imagiware.com/RxHTML/>
NetMechanic	<http://www.netmechanic.com/>
InternetSeer	<http://www.internetseer.com/>
NetMechanic Monitoring Service	<http://www.netmechanic.com/monitor.htm>
Watchdog	<http://watchdog.superstats.com/>
Alertsite	<http://alertsite.com/freetrial/>
WebWatch Services	<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/webwatch/services/>
Dr Watson	<http://watson.addy.com/>
LinkAlarm	<http://www.linkalarm.com/>
NetMechanic Maintenance Service	<http://www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm>
SiteValet	<http://valet.webthing.com/>
This Old Mouse	<http://www.thisoldmouse.com/>
Webmaster-Toolkit	<http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/>

Link Checker

Service	URL
Netmechanic	<http://www.netmechanic.com/>
Nodeworks	<http://www.nodeworks.com/>
Site valet	<http://valet.webthing.com/>
Xenu	<http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html>
LinkTool	<http://www.linktool.com/>
Usable Web	<http://usableweb.com/topics/000811-0-0.html>

Link Popularity, Robot Checkers, etc

Service	URL
LinkPopularity.com	<http://www.linkpopularity.com/>
LinkPopularityCheck.com	<http://www.linkpopularitycheck.com/>
MarketleapLink Popularity	<http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/>
Link Popularity Check, Uptimebot.com	<http://www.uptimebot.com/>
Robots.txt Checker	<http://tool.motoricerca.info/robots-checker.phtml>

WebWatch

Service	URL
A Survey Of Links to UK University Web Sites	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/web-watch/>
A Survey Of Numbers of UK University Web Servers	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue24/web-watch/>
A Survey Of Web Server Software Used In UK University Web Sites	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue25/web-watch/>
Showing Robots the Door	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue15/robots/>
UK University Search Engines	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue21/webwatch/>
Web Watch: 404s - What's Missing?	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue20/404/>
WebWatching UK Universities and Colleges	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue12/web-focus/>
What's Related To My Web Site?	<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue27/web-watch/>