A centre of expertise in digital information management 1 UKOLN is supported by: SWMLAC Workshop: Introduction to Benchmarking Web Sites Marieke Guy Interoperability Focus

A centre of expertise in digital information management 2 Timetable 10:35 Presentation: Intro To Benchmarking Web Sites 10:50 Hands-on session: Benchmarking Web Sites 12:20 Presentation: QA for Web sites 12:30 Lunch 13:15 Hands-on session continued and report Back 14:00 (Virtual) Presentation: Benchmarking: Strengths And Weaknesses - Brian Kelly 14:15 Presentation: Accessibility and Usability 14:30 Hands-on session: Accessibility and Usability 15:30 Presentation: Where do we go from Here? 15:40 Conclusions and Workshop ends

A centre of expertise in digital information management 3 A Bit About Me…. I am part of the Interoperability Focus Team Work in UKOLN Based at the University of Bath Funded by JISC and MLA HE / FE and cultural heritage sector remit Previous roles….

A centre of expertise in digital information management 4 A Bit About You... In small groups address the questions: –Who are you, where do you work and what do you do? –What do you want to get out of this workshop?

A centre of expertise in digital information management 5 Today’s Workshop Take a look at: –Common problems we have with our sites –Quality assurance methodology –Accessibility and Usability Have a go at using: –Auditing and evaluating tools that can help Have a think about how you can: –Benchmark your Web site –Adopt this methodology in your organisation, region, sector, …

A centre of expertise in digital information management 6 Your Expectations Your Interests & expectations Sharing Learning Best practices Quality Testing Checking Constraints Staffing Finances

A centre of expertise in digital information management 7 About Benchmarking Benchmarking is about: –Sharing –Learning from best practices –Learning from mistakes others have made Benchmarking is not about: –League tables –Prizes for the ‘best’ Note: Organisations have different priorities, levels of resources, starting points and organisational politics.

A centre of expertise in digital information management 8 What’s the Big Deal? Why are accessibility, usability, standards etc. important? The User Wants to be able to use the resource quickly and effectively Open access, use of other devices The User Wants to be able to use the resource quickly and effectively Open access, use of other devices The Creator Good practice Data interchange and interoperability Management of information The Creator Good practice Data interchange and interoperability Management of information The Funder Value for money Longevity of electronic resources (including preservation, sustainability) The Funder Value for money Longevity of electronic resources (including preservation, sustainability) The Law Regulations, guidelines (e-GIF Version 6.1) Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Law Regulations, guidelines (e-GIF Version 6.1) Disability Discrimination Act 1995

A centre of expertise in digital information management Your Web site…

A centre of expertise in digital information management 10 Does it Work? It is useful to check key pages for accessibility, validation and functionality Web page validators include: –NetMechanic –Dr Watson –DrHTML – single pages only –…

A centre of expertise in digital information management 11 Is it Accessible? The Bobby Java application can check the accessibility of Web sites (now licensed software) The WebXACT service can check the quality, accessibility and privacy of individual Web pages (online Bobby) – WAVE and Cynthia Says are alternatives to Bobby

A centre of expertise in digital information management 12 You can find out the size of your home page using various tools: NetMechanic Bobby … How Big is it?

A centre of expertise in digital information management 13 Are There Broken Links? Monitoring the number of broken links on your Web site is very important Desktop and Web- based tools are available: –Xenu –LinkAlarm –Linkguard –Nodeworks –NetMechanic –SiteValet –…

A centre of expertise in digital information management 14 How Popular Is Your Site? There are a number of services that will tell you how many pages link to your Web site –LinkPopularity –WebSiteGarage –Netscape’s What’s Related service is used through the Netscape browser –Google info:URL search

A centre of expertise in digital information management 15 What About Other Browsers? Does your home page (and Web site) work in: –Netscape very popular in UK HE) –Firefox –IE (most widely used browser) –Significant (all?) versions and platforms of above –Lynx (text browser which may be used by visually impaired) –AnyBrowser –DejaVu

A centre of expertise in digital information management 16 Useful Approach To Tools,tools approach Applies to all resources on Web site Covers HTML and CSS validation and various other tests Some recursive apps (,rvalidate ) Easily implemented with single line redirect,tools approach Applies to all resources on Web site Covers HTML and CSS validation and various other tests Some recursive apps (,rvalidate ) Easily implemented with single line redirect

A centre of expertise in digital information management 17 Addressing User Issues You should be aware that automated tools will not guarantee that a Web site is: –Useable, accessible or functional There will still be a need for user testing You should consider: –Systematic usability and accessibility testing –Formal procedures – don’t ask your mate; don’t tell them what they should do, … –It need not be expensive “5 people will spot 90% of the problems” –More on this later!

A centre of expertise in digital information management 18 Conclusion Different tools give different results and results can be limited. The results should be analysed carefully - like statistics Independent testing services can be beneficial Comparison is useful However a league table is not enough, for this type of evaluation. To have a point there should be follow up action

A centre of expertise in digital information management 19 Questions Any questions?

A centre of expertise in digital information management 20 Today’s Exercises You will: –Use a set of Web-based tools for evaluating a variety of aspects of your Web site –Work in small groups and share your findings and discuss the implications This session: –Encourages collaboration and sharing –Is not meant to be competitive! Now open the exercises handout