Chapter 17 Web Standards © 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Lessons Lesson 17.1 Ensuring Standards and Access Lesson 17.2 Getting Found Digital Media, 3e

Learning Outcomes 17.1 Explain how the W3C creates standards 17.2 Identify some issues involved in Web accessibility 17.3 Explain how the WAI and Section 508 try to ensure accessibility 17.4 List some conventions for Web pages 17.5 Explain how Internet search engines work 17.6 List techniques that can be used to improve a Web site’s standing in search engine results 17.7 Explain the purpose and value of Web analytics Digital Media, 3e

World Wide Web Consortium W3C plays the major role in establishing and promoting Web standards Promotes the creation of well-formed code Seeks to ensure that Web sites appear in similar ways across many browsers and hardware platforms HTML, XHTML, and other markup languages are not written and owned by specific companies The W3C, an independent nonprofit organization, oversees and monitors the creation and proper use of HTML code W3C produces technical documents outlining specifications for these markup languages and other Web development tools More information about W3C can be found at www.w3.org Digital Media, 3e

Ensuring Access There is a growing demand that those who design Web sites make their sites usable by all users, regardless of their vision or hearing abilities Two sets of rules govern accessibility (the principle of making Web content understandable and usable by all people regardless of disabilities): Those developed by the W3C The federal government rules provided under Section 508 Digital Media, 3e

Ensuring Access (continued) W3C Standards W3C launched a multifaceted effort called the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) WAI includes the creation of guidelines for Web site accessibility, support materials and resources for Web developers, tools for evaluating accessibility, and advice on using the Web for those who have disabilities As part of the WAI, the W3C has issued recommendations for accessibility called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Digital Media, 3e

Ensuring Access (continued) W3C Standards (cont.) The WCAG is designed to promote accessibility in four areas: Content is perceivable The Web site is operable Content is understandable The site is designed in robust ways Assistive technology is any device or software developed with the goal of helping those with disabilities use and interact successfully with a computer A screen reader is a type of assistive technology that turns text on the screen into synthesized speech or Braille Digital Media, 3e

Ensuring Access (continued) Section 508 Section 508 standards are mandates Section 508 is an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; it requires federal agencies to make their Web sites accessible to all users regardless of abilities Requirements do not apply to sites created by businesses Is a standard to consider so that all members of your audience are included when you are constructing Web pages Several Section 508 requirements are similar to the W3C’s accessibility standards Digital Media, 3e

Testing Sites Various tools are available to check for compliance with accessibility guidelines Testing for Valid Code Web editors have built-in code validation features A validator is software that checks Web sites under development for compliance with particular standards; generally checks four areas: Markup language, Cascading style sheets Appropriateness to mobile computing Correctness of RSS or Atom subscription feeds Digital Media, 3e

Testing Sites (continued) Testing for Accessibility One way to find out if a Web site meets W3C accessibility recommendations or Section 508 requirements is to use a list of questions Another common way to test for accessibility is to use Web sites that specifically test for noncompliance Digital Media, 3e

Web Conventions Web designers provide a courtesy to their readers is by designing sites to conform to certain page conventions or expectations Include a copyright date and indicate the last date that a page has been updated Have links back to the home page in the event that a reader has come to a page from a search engine and cannot use the browser’s Back function The home page will have an email link to the Web Master (the person who administers a Web site) Businesses and organizations that have contact with the public should always include information about their physical address as well as a telephone number Digital Media, 3e

Web Conventions (continued) Web convention to provide a page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which provide answers to common questions about the products or services of the organization owning the site or about the site itself Convention to use blue underlined text for active links and purple underlined text for links that have been used Because Web users understand underlining to indicate a link, it is best not to use that formatting for any other purpose Digital Media, 3e

Are Conventions Worth Following? Have you ever visited a Web site in which you had difficulty figuring out where to go or what to do to interact with the site? What caused the problem? Were commands, buttons, or links placed in unusual places? Were there fewer navigation aids? How did your experience affect you? Did you visit the site again, or were you so discouraged that you wanted to have nothing to do with it? Digital Media, 3e

Evaluating Web Sites Use a rubric to help ensure that you have met acceptable standards and created an effective site Use when evaluating the content and design of other sites Low scores can highlight troublesome areas Digital Media, 3e

Getting Found How does a Web site get found? Advertise in print or other media; businesses regularly publish their Web site’s URL on every ad they place and on all official communications Through search engines such as Yahoo!, Google, and Bing (a search engine searches for user-defined keywords in Web documents or in databases that store information about Web sites, and displays lists of sites that contain those keywords) Digital Media, 3e

How Search Engines Work Search engines maintain vast indexes of Web sites that indicate important words found on the pages and the location of those pages Search engines use specialized software called spiders or bots or crawlers, which continuously roam the Internet and send the results of their encounters back to the search engine’s database Spiders also look at the page’s meta tag (an HTML tag that stores information about a Web site) Keywords found within meta tags are specifically indexed so that someone using that word as a search term is likely to be notified of all sites containing that term as a keyword in the list of search results Loading the meta tag with keywords (keyword stuffing) is not the secret to getting your Web site indexed; search engines now pay little attention to meta tags Digital Media, 3e

How Search Engines Work (continued) Factors that improve the ability of a Web site to be successfully indexed: Using well-formed code Making sure that no links within the Web site are broken Using simple, relatively short URLs. Using very descriptive titles and headings that clearly state the topic of the content they refer to Keeping pages relatively small in size Including a sitemap for the Web site Registering the Web site with search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing Digital Media, 3e

How Search Engines Work (continued) Spiders do not index everything on a Web site It is very important not to place vital information about a business only in a graphical banner or the corporate logo; the Web site must also include that information in text form in order for it to be indexed The Robot Exclusion Protocol (REP) is a Web standard that allows Web administrators to block search engine spiders from indexing certain directories or files within the Web site Digital Media, 3e

Enhancing Search Results Search engines list sites in rank order Three key factors can affect ranking order: The frequency and relevance of keywords within the Web site The number of links to the Web site from other Web sites: the more of these links, the higher the ranking Purchasing adwords; adwords are keywords and phrases for your site to which you agree with a search engine such as Google or Bing to link an advertisement Digital Media, 3e

Enhancing Search Results (continued) The practice of trying to maximize these positive factors is called search engine optimization (SEO) Some ways to optimize a Web site include: Placing keywords in the title and headings Using keywords often in the content of Web pages Including words related to the keyword in the content to maximize possible listings on searches Agreeing to link exchanges with other Web sites; by establishing mutual links, sites increase the rankings of each site Another option utilized by some firms is to hire SEO consultants to try to increase the amount of traffic to their sites Digital Media, 3e

Web Analytics The way to learn more about traffic to your site is to use Web analytics, which are statistical reporting tools that indicate the amount and nature of traffic to a Web site Google Analytics is one of the most popular Web analytic tools Bing has a similar reporting tool under its Webmaster Tools program There are many, many independent analytics programs available for free as well as for purchase Digital Media, 3e

Web Analytics (continued) Web analytics can provide a large store of data about Web site visitors: Total number of visitors by day, week, and month The number of those visitors who were new to the site or had visited before The average amount of time visitors spend on the site in general and on each page in particular The bounce rate: the proportion of visitors who leave the site after seeing only one page The number of visitors who responded to ads or adwords The number of visitors who went on to purchase products or services from the site The source of traffic—whether visitors came directly by entering the URL or clicking on a bookmark, by clicking on a link from another Web site, or by clicking on a search result The number of visitors coming from each source Digital Media, 3e

Key Concepts The World Wide Web Consortium goes through a rigorous process of proposing, receiving comments on, and revising standards before issuing them as final recommendations; the W3C expects Web developers, browser companies, and others to follow the standards One W3C initiative tries to promote accessibility of Web sites to individuals with disabilities, focusing on recommendations to make sure that: Web sites are perceivable and operable Web content is understandable Site designs are robust enough to adapt to future technologies Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act establishes rules that the Web sites created for agencies of the federal government must follow to be accessible; while these rules are not binding on non-government Web sites, they are useful guidelines Digital Media, 3e

Key Concepts (continued) The W3C and other organizations offer tools that can be used for testing the validity of a Web site’s underlying code and the degree to which the site is accessible to those with disabilities Certain practices have become conventions on the Web, which means Web users will expect Web sites to include them (doing so is a courtesy and a way of ensuring the of site visitors); practices such as: Including update, copyright, and contact information Including navigational links back to the home page and a FAQ page Using blue underlined type for hyperlinks A checklist of questions can be used to evaluate a Web site and highlight issues that may need fixing Digital Media, 3e

Key Concepts (continued) The best way to get a Web site noticed is to be recognized and given high ranking by search engines They index Web sites based on content, which makes keywords important They rank sites based on the richness of the content, the number of external sites linking to the site, and other factors Buying ads with the search engine can help boost rankings Web analytics generate statistics that can be used to: Analyze the traffic to a site Analyze the behavior of visitors when they reach the site Identify pages, links, or relationships that are effective—and those that are not—in generating traffic and in keeping visitors at the site once they arrive Digital Media, 3e