Quality Assurance For Web Sites Workshop: Internet Librarian International 2004

The "Quality Assurance For Web Sites" workshop was given at the Internet Librarian International 2004 Conference in London on 10^th October 2004.

The workshop was facilitated by Brian Kelly, UKOLN.

The following information is available:

Workshop Details

Title: Quality Assurance For Web Sites
Abstract: Web sites are increasingly providing mission-critical services for organisations. It is becoming even more important to ensure that services delivered on the Web are widely available, accessible and functional - with the need to comply with service level agreements and, perhaps, legal obligations to provide robust services.
The workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to learn how quality assurance can help to provide a framework for the provision of Web services.
In this interactive workshop session participants will have the opportunity to describe difficulties that they have encountered in providing Web services. A number of tools and methodologies for identifying problem areas will be described. The requirements of QA procedures will be identified and a number of examples of QA procedures will be provided.
Objectives Of The Session: By the end of the session participants will be aware of the importance of quality assurance procedures for ensuring that Web sites work effectively. Participants will be aware of a number of procedures which can be adopted and of tools which can support the QA process and will have developed action plans for use of such procedures within their own organisation.
Time: The workshop will be held from 14:00-17:00 on Sunday 10^th October 2004.
Venue: The workshop will be held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4LH (see Multimap).
Requirements: The workshop will require a networked PC (with PowerPoint and a Web browser installed) and data projector.
Workshop Facilitator: Brian Kelly (UKOLN)

Timetable

The draft timetable for the workshop is given below.

Time	Topic	Comments
14:00-14:10	Introduction Talk 1	Introduction to the workshop and to the workshop facilitator [BK]
14:10-14:20	What Can Go Wrong? Talk 2	Group exercise: What can go wrong with your Web site
14:20-14:40	Finding problems	Tools and techniques for spotting problems with Web sites [BK]
14:40-15:00	Benchmarking Your Web Site Talk 3	Comparing your Web site with your peers [BK]
15:00-15:30	An Introduction To Quality Assurance Talk 4	An introduction to quality assurance for Web sites [BK]
15:30-15:45	Coffee Break
15:45-16:10	Developing your own QA policies and procedures Talk 5	Group exercise in which delegates produce QA policies and procedures for use on their own Web sites [All]
16:10-16:20	QA Focus Resources Talk 6	Description of the QA Focus resources [BK]
16:20-16:45	Implementing QA In Your Organisation Talk 7	Addressing approaches to impeding QA within your organisation [BK/All]
16:45-17:00	Conclusions

Please note that the timings are subject to change.

Surveys

Surveys of Web sites are given below.

Survey of HTML Compliance: [HTML format]
Survey of CSS Compliance: [HTML format]
Survey of Compliance With Accessibility Guidelines: [HTML format]
Link-checking Survey: [HTML format]
Survey of Server Software: [HTML format]
Survey of 404 error pages: [HTML format]
Survey of Search Engine Software: [HTML format]

Materials

Slides

Slides: Talk 1: QA For Web Sites: Introduction: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 2: QA For Web Sites: What Can Go Wrong?: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 3: QA For Web Sites: Benchmarking: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 4: QA For Web Sites: Introduction To QA: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 5: QA For Web Sites: Implementing Your Own QA: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 6: QA For Web Sites: QA Focus Resources: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]
Slides: Talk 7: QA For Web Sites: Implementing QA: [MS Powerpoint 97/2000 format] - [HTML format]

Handouts

Handouts For Talk 2

Initial examples of checking Web sites for compliance with standards and best practices.

Compliance with HTML Standards: Compliance with HTML Standards, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 1
Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 34
Approaches To Link Checking: Approaches To Link Checking, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 7

Handouts For Talk 3

Examples of best practices which we can learn from comparisons with our peers.

Search Facilities For Your Web Site: Search Facilities For Your Web Site, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 8
404 Error Pages On Web Sites: 404 Error Pages On Web Sites, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 6

Handouts For Talk 4

Descriptions of the QA Focus methodology.

Summary of the QA Focus Methodology: Summary of the QA Focus Methodology, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 30
Top 10 Quality Assurance Tips: Top 10 Quality Assurance Tips, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 37
A URI Interface To Web Testing Tools: A URI Interface To Web Testing Tools, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 59

Handouts For Talk 5

Examples of examples of QA for accessibility.

Use of Automated Tools For Testing Web Site Accessibility: Use of Automated Tools For Testing Web Site Accessibility, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 02
How To Evaluate A Web Site's Accessibility Level: How To Evaluate A Web Site's Accessibility Level, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 12
Accessibility Testing In Web Browsers: Accessibility Testing In Web Browsers, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 57

Examples of examples of QA for metadata.

An Introduction To Metadata: An Introduction To Metadata, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 41
Metadata Deployment: Metadata Deployment, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 42
Quality Assurance For Metadata: Quality Assurance For Metadata, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 43

Examples of examples of QA for software.

Top Tips For Selecting Open Source Software: Top Tips For Selecting Open Source Software, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 60

Handouts For Talk 6

Details of QA Focus's toolkits.

Using The QA For Web Toolkit: Using The QA For Web Toolkit, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 72
Using The QA For Metadata Toolkit: Using The QA For Metadata Toolkit, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 73

Evaluation of QA Focus resources.

QA Focus Briefing Documents: List of QA Focus Briefing Documents, QA Focus, Briefing Document No. 00
Evaluation: QA Focus Methodology: Evaluation document
Evaluation: HTML Compliance Documents: Evaluation document
Evaluation: Gap Analysis: Evaluation document
Personal Action Plans: Personal Action Plans, [MS Word format]