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Quality Assurance For Web Sites:Selected QA Focus Briefing Documents
This handbook provides advice and support for Web managers and Web developers. The handbook provides advice on standards, best practices and emerging technologies.
The handbook contains a section of briefing papers published by UKOLN, a national centre of expertise in digital information management, located at the University of Bath, UK.
Editor Brian Kelly, UKOLN
Publication date: 11 October 2006
Table Of Contents
TOC \h \z \t "Heading 1,1,Heading 2,2,Briefing-Title,2,Case-Study-Title,2" HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866929" 1 The QA For Web Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866929 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866930" About The Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866930 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866931" Acknowledgements PAGEREF _Toc144866931 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866932" Other QA Focus Resources PAGEREF _Toc144866932 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866933" Licence For Use Of The Contents Of The Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866933 \h 1
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866934" 2 About QA Focus PAGEREF _Toc144866934 \h 2
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866935" Background PAGEREF _Toc144866935 \h 2
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866936" QA Focus Deliverables PAGEREF _Toc144866936 \h 2
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866937" 3 About The Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866937 \h 3
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866938" About This Version Of The Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866938 \h 3
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866939" About UKOLN PAGEREF _Toc144866939 \h 3
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866941" 4 Web Briefing Documents PAGEREF _Toc144866941 \h 4
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866942" Briefing Documents Included In Handbook PAGEREF _Toc144866942 \h 4
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866943" Top 10 Web Tips PAGEREF _Toc144866943 \h 5
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866944" Compliance With HTML Standards PAGEREF _Toc144866944 \h 7
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866945" Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) PAGEREF _Toc144866945 \h 9
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866946" Deployment Of XHTML 1.0 PAGEREF _Toc144866946 \h 11
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866947" Approaches To Link Checking PAGEREF _Toc144866947 \h 13
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866948" URI Naming Conventions For Your Web Site PAGEREF _Toc144866948 \h 15
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866949" A URI Interface To Web Testing Tools PAGEREF _Toc144866949 \h 17
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866950" 404 Error Pages On Web Sites PAGEREF _Toc144866950 \h 19
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866951" An Introduction To RSS And News Feeds PAGEREF _Toc144866951 \h 21
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866952" An Introduction To Wikis PAGEREF _Toc144866952 \h 23
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866953" An Introduction To Web Services PAGEREF _Toc144866953 \h 25
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866954" An Introduction To AJAX PAGEREF _Toc144866954 \h 27
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866955" Introduction To OPML PAGEREF _Toc144866955 \h 29
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866956" Introduction To Microformats PAGEREF _Toc144866956 \h 31
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866957" Risk Assessment For Use Of Third Party Web 2.0 Services PAGEREF _Toc144866957 \h 33
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866958" An Introduction To Microformats PAGEREF _Toc144866958 \h 35
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866959" Web 2.0: Supporting Library User PAGEREF _Toc144866959 \h 37
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866960" Web 2.0: Addressing the Barriers to Implementation in a Library Context PAGEREF _Toc144866960 \h 41
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866961" Guide To The Use Of Wikis At Events PAGEREF _Toc144866961 \h 45
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866962" Use Of Social Tagging Services At Events PAGEREF _Toc144866962 \h 47
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc144866963" Exploiting Networked Applications At Events PAGEREF _Toc144866963 \h 49
1 The QA For Web Handbook
About The Handbook
This handbook provides advice on best practices for use of the Web. The handbook contains access to a number of the briefing documents published by the QA Focus project.
Acknowledgements
The QA Focus project was originally funded by the JISC. UKOLN wishes to give thanks to JISC for funding this project and for the support and advice we received during the lifetime of the project.
Other QA Focus Resources
The QA Focus project has published over 100 briefing papers and over 30 case studies. These cover a wide range of areas; as well as Web technologies, the documents also cover digitisation, metadata, software, service deployment and other areas.
The briefing documents are available on the QA Focus Web site at the address
The case studies are available on the QA Focus Web site at the address
In addition papers and articles published by QA Focus are available on the QA Focus Web site at the address
Also note that the main areas of the QA Focus Web site can be syndicated through use of RSS and OPML technologies. For further information see
Licence For Use Of The Contents Of The Handbook
This handbook contains access to QA Focus briefing document on the topic of Web. The briefing documents included in this handbook are available on the QA Focus Web site from the address
The majority of the briefing documents have a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License which grants permission for third parties to copy, distribute and display the document and to make derivative works provided:
The authors are given due credit. We suggest the following:"This document is based on an original document produced by the QA Focus project provided by UKOLN and AHDS."
You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a licence identical to this one.
Briefing documents for which the licence is application are shown with the illustrated Creative Commons logo.
2 About QA Focus
Background
The QA Focus project was funded by the JISC with the aim of developing a quality assurance framework to support JISCs digital library programmes .and to provide an appropriate support infrastructure.
The project was provided initially by UKOLN and the AHDS (although ILRT, University of Bristol were UKOLNs partner in the first year)..
Following the successful completion of the project the resources developed by the project have been built on, in order to support UKOLNs wider set of communities, including HE and FE institutions and the cultural heritage sector.
QA Focus Deliverables
QA Focus successfully provided a set of key deliverables:
A lightweight quality assurance framework for use by JISCs development programmes.
A set of support materials.
Advice on approaches to quality assurance and use of standards in future JISC programmes.
Validation of the methodology developed.
Further information on these deliverables is given below.
Quality Assurance Framework:
The QA Focus framework provides a lightweight methodology which is felt to be well-suited for the development community within the higher education community. The QA framework requires projects to (a) provide simple policies which cover technical aspects of the project and (b) deploy systematic procedures to ensure that the policies are being implemented correctly.
Support Materials:
The QA Focus project published over 90 briefing papers and over 30 case studies. In order to maximise the impact of these resources a Creative Common licence is available for the briefing papers which permit their reuse.
Advice To JISC:
The QA Focus project provided advice to JISC on future JISC development programmes. This advice included recommendations for a layered approach to use of open standards and for the need for QA in development programmes. These recommendations are being implemented for new programmes. The final report is available from .
Validation Of Methodologies Materials:
The QA Focus project published several papers in peer-reviewed journals or for peer-reviewed conferences which provided feedback on the approaches which have been developed. These papers are available from .3 About The Handbook
About This Version Of The Handbook
This version of the handbook has been produced to support the From Bits to Blogs - Taking the IT Revolution into Museums, Libraries and Archives seminar, held on 18th October, 2006 at Teesside University. For further information about this event please see the URL or .
About UKOLN
UKOLN is pleased to support the publication of the Quality Assurance For Web Sites handbook. UKOLN played the lead role in the QA Focus project which developed a quality assurance framework to support JISCs development programmes and published a wide range of support materials, including those included in this handbook.
UKOLN plays a key role in the development and supporting use of best practices in building and using networked services, such as Web sites. We engage with and support a wide range of communities including the higher and further education communities and the cultural heritage sector in the UK and the wider international community.
We hope you find the resources in this handbook useful and invite you to visit the UKOLN Web site to read more about our activities.
Further details about UKOLN are available at the URL .
4 Web Briefing Documents
Briefing Documents Included In Handbook
The following Web briefing documents are included in the handbook:
General
Top 10 Web Tips, (briefing-55)
HTML
Compliance With HTML Standards (briefing-01)
Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) (briefing-34)
Deployment Of XHTML 1.0, (briefing-35)
Links, Addressing, etc.
Approaches To Link Checking (briefing-07)
URI Naming Conventions For Your Web Site (briefing-16)
A URI Interface To Web Testing Tool, (briefing-59)
404 Error Pages On Web Sites (briefing-05)
Web 2.0
An Introduction To RSS And News Feeds (briefing-77)
An Introduction To Wikis, QA Focus, (briefing-78)
An Introduction To Web Services, (briefing-85)
An Introduction To AJAX, (briefing-93)
An Introduction To OPML, (briefing-97)
Risk Assessment For Use Of Third Party Web 2.0 Services, (briefing-98)
An Introduction To Microformats, (briefing-100)
Web 2.0: Supporting Library Users, (briefing-102)
Web 2.0: Addressing the Barriers to Implementation in a Library Context, (briefing-103)
Guide To The Use Of Wikis At Events, (briefing-104)
Use Of Social Tagging Services At Events, (briefing-105)
Exploiting Networked Applications At Events, (briefing-106)
Top 10 Web Tips
About This Document
This briefing document gives the top 10 tips for Web site developers.
Citation Details
Top 10 Web Tips, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Keywords: Web, tips, briefing
The Top 10 Tips
1 Ensure Your Web Site Complies With HTML Standards
You should ensure that your Web site complies with HTML standards. This will involve selecting the standard for your Web site (which currently should be either HTML 4.0 or XHTML 1.0); implementing publishing procedures which will ensure that your Web pages comply with the standard and quality assurance procedures to ensure that your publishing processes work correctly [1] [2].
2 Make Use Of CSS And Ensure The CSS Is Compliant
You should make use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to define the appearance of your HTML pages. You should seek to avoid use of HTML formatting elements (e.g. avoid spacer GIFs, tags, etc.) although it is recognised that use of tables for formatting may be necessary in order to address the poor support for CSS-positioning in some Web browsers. You should also ensure that your CSS is compliant with appropriate standards [3].
3 Provide A Search Facility For Your Web Site
You should provide a search facility for your project Web site, if is contains more than a few pages [4] (and externally-hosted search engines are an option if you do not have the technical resources to install software locally).
4 Ensure Your 404 Error Page Is Tailored
You should aim to ensure that the 404 error page for your Web site is not the default page but has been configured with appropriate branding, advice and links to appropriate resources, such as the search facility [5].
5 Have A URI Naming Policy For Your Web Site
You should ensure that you have a URI naming policy for your Web site [6].
6 Check Your Links And Have a Link-Checking Policy
You should ensure that you check for broken links on your Web site. You should ensure that links work correctly when pages are created or updated. You should also ensure that you have a link checking policy which defines the frequency for checking links and your policy when broken links are detected [7].
7 Think About Accessibility
You should address the accessibility of your Web site from the initial planning stages. You should ensure that you carry out appropriate accessibility testing and that you have an accessibility policy [8].
8 Think About Usability
You should address the usability of your Web site from the initial planning stages. You should ensure that you carry out appropriate usability testing and that you have an usability policy.
9 Use Multiple Browsers For Checking
You should make use of several browsers for testing the accessibility, usability and functionality of your Web site. You should consider making use of mainstream browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape/Mozilla) together with more specialist browsers such as Opera.
10 Implement QA Policies For Your Web Site
You should ensure that you have appropriate quality assurance procedures for your Web site.
References
Compliance with HTML Standards, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Deployment Of XHTML 1.0, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), QA Focus, UKOLN,
Search Facilities For Your Web Site, QA Focus, UKOLN,
404 Error Pages On Web Sites, QA Focus, UKOLN,
URI Naming Conventions For Your Project Web Site, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Approaches To Link Checking, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Accessibility Testing, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Compliance With HTML Standards
About This Document
This briefing document summarises the importance of complying fully with HTML standards and approaches for checking compliance.
Citation Details
Compliance With HTML Standards, QA Focus, UKOLN,
Keywords: Web, HTML, standards, compliance, briefing
Why Bother?
Compliance with HTML standards is needed for a number of reasons:
HTML compliant resources are more likely to be accessible to a wide range of Web browsers including desktop browsers such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, Lynx and specialist browsers on PDAS, digital TVs, kiosks, etc.
HTML compliant resources are more easily processed and repurposed by other applications.
HTML compliant resources will be rendered more quickly by modern browsers.
HTML compliance is required by the AAA W3C WAI accessibility guidelines.
Which Standards?
The World Wide Web Consortium, W3C, recommend use of the XHTML 1.0 (or higher) standard. This has the advantage of being an XML application (allowing use of XML tools) and can be rendered by most browsers. However authoring tools which are widely deployed may not yet produce XHTML and there may be financial implications (licence costs, training, etc.) in upgrading. In such circumstances HTML 4.0 may be used.
Cascading style sheets (CSS) should be used in conjunction with XHTML/HTML to describe the appearance of Web resources.
Approaches To Creating HTML Resources
Web resources may be created in a number of ways. Often HTML authoring tools such as DreamWeaver, FrontPage, etc. are used, although experienced HTML authors may prefer to use a simple editing tool. Another approach is to make use of a Content Management System. An alternative approach is to convert proprietary file formats (e.g. MS Word or PowerPoint). In addition sometimes proprietary formats are not converted but are stored in their native format.
Monitoring Compliance
A number of approaches may be taken to monitoring compliance with HTML standards. For example you can make use of validation features provided by modern HTML authoring tools, use desktop compliance tools or Web-based compliance tools.
The different tools can be used in various ways. Tools integrated with an HTML authoring tool are used by the page author. It is important that the author is trained to use such tools on a regular basis. It should be noted that it may be difficult to address systematic errors (e.g. all files missing the DOCTYPE declaration) with this approach.
A popular approach is to make use of SSIs (server-side includes) to retrieve common features (such as headers, footers, navigation bars, etc.). This can be useful for storing HTML elements (such as the DOCTYPE declaration) in a manageable form. However this may cause validation problems if the SSI is not processed.
Another approach is to make use of a Content Management System or similar server-side technique, such as retrieving resources from a database. In this case it is essential that the template used by the CMS complies with standards.
It may be felt necessary to separate the compliance process from the page authoring. In such cases use of a dedicated HTML checker may be needed. Such tools are often used in batch, to validate multiple files. In many cases voluminous warnings and error messages may be provided. This information may provide indications of systematic errors which should be addressed in workflow processes.
An alternative approach is to use Web-based checking services. An advantage with this approach is that the service may be used in a number of ways: the service may be used directly by entering the URL of a resource to be validated or live access to the checking service may be provided by including a link from a validation icon as used at as shown in Figure 1 (this approach could be combined with use of cookies or other techniques so that the icon is only displayed to an administrator).
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT Another approach is to configure your Web server so that users can access the validation service by appending an option to the URL. For further information on this technique see and . This technique can be deployed with a simple option on your Web servers configuration file.
Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
About This Document
This briefing document describes the importance of CSS for Web sites.
Citation Details
Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), QA Focus, UKOLN,
Keywords: Web, CSS, style sheets, briefing
Background
This document reviews the importance of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and highlights the importance of ensuring that use of CSS complies with CSS standards.
Why Use CSS?
Use of CSS is the recommended way of defining how HTML pages are displayed. You should use HTML to define the basic structure (using elements such as
,
,
, etc.) and CSS to define how these elements should appear (e.g. heading should be in bold Arial font, paragraphs should be indented, etc.).
This approach has several advantages:
Maintenance: It is much easier to maintain the appearance of a Web site. If you use a single CSS file updating this file allows the Web site look-and-feel to be altered easily; in contrast use of HTML formatting elements would require every file to be updated to change the appearance.
Functionality: CSS provides rich functionality, including defining the appearance of HTML pages when they are printed.
Accessibility: Use of CSS provides much greater accessibility, allowing users with special needs to alter the appearance of a Web page to suit their requirements. CSS also allows Web pages to be more easily rendered by special devices, such as speaking browsers, PDAs, etc.
There are disadvantages to use of CSS. In particular legacy browsers such as Netscape 4 have difficulty in processing CSS. However, since such legacy browsers are now in a minority the biggest barrier to deployment of CSS is probably inertia.
Approaches To Use Of CSS
There are a number of ways in which CSS can be deployed:
External CSS Files: The best way to use CSS is to store the CSS data in an external file and link to this file using the HTML element. This approach allows the CSS definitions to be used by every page on your Web site.
Internal CSS: You can store CSS within a HTML by including it using the