1. Web-based structures, links and testing
National 4 & 5 Computing Science

2. Contents National 4 website, page, URL hyperlink National 5
hyperlinks (internal, external), relative and absolute addressing
navigation
web browsers and search engines
good design to aid navigation, usability and accessibility

3. What is the world wide web?
A collection of multimedia information held on the internet.
Information stored at websites that often contain many web pages
Websites are stored on web servers that are connected to the internet
Web page = a single document (html file)
Websites = an effective way to distribute information
Each website has a Home page that is a starting point to explore the website
A website may have hyperlinks to other websites

4. What is a hyperlink? Links between web pages, documents or files
Hyperlinks - activated by clicking on text or on an area of the screen like a hotspot
Internal hyperlink goes to another page within the same website
External hyperlink goes to a different website – which may be on a different server

5. National 5

6. Absolute and relative hyperlinks - N5
HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) = language used to create web pages
To create hyperlinks:-
href attribute holds the URL of the webpage
<a> tag is also used
Internal hyperlink –
< a href=“home.htm”> Home page </a>
relative addressing is used
External hyperlink –
< a href=“ BBC </a>
absolute addressing is used

7. Questions What is the world wide web? What is a web page?
What language can be used to create webpages?
Where are websites stored?
What is a hyperlink?
Nat 5
What is the difference between an internal hyperlink and an external hyperlink?
Which type of hyperlink uses absolute addressing?
Name the other type of addressing that is used by a hyperlink.

8. What is a URL? Uniform resource Locator
Full web address that is used to access a page directly
Unique address for a file on the internet
/index.htm
Protocol – http - HyperText Transfer Protocol
Domain name -
Pathname - departments/computing/index.htm – leads to the file

9. What is navigation?
How the user finds their way around an information system
Navigation structure –
how pages or screens are arranged
Linear
Hierarchical
Web

10. Linear navigation structure
Pages are viewed in order e.g.
When entering delivery details followed by payment information
User can go back to the previous page
Best for short sequences
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4

11. Hierarchical navigation structure
Sometimes called “tree navigation”
Fast movement between pages and easy to add pages to
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3

12. Web navigation structure
There are multiple direct connections between web pages
Level 6
Level 4
Level 7
Level 2
Level 1
Level 3
Level 8
Level 5
Level 9

13. Questions What does URL stand for?
Name the parts of the following URL:-
Nat 5
What is navigation?
Describe the three types of navigation that a website may use.

14. Practical task
Use a search engine to find out about the quantity of information that is added to the World Wide Web each day.
Write a short statement about your findings

15. What is a web browser?
Program to let the user browse web pages that are stored on another computer (a web server)
Loads page from another computer and displays them
Examples are:-
Internet Explorer
Safari
Firefox
Chrome
Opera

16. Web browser facilities
Possibly;-
File transfer
Browser can be set up with a home page to be viewed when the browser starts – or when Home button is used
Save pages and print pages
Store a reading list that can be viewed offline
Store history of recently used pages
Bookmarks or Favourites to remember web page addresses
Tabbed browsing to view several web pages in one window

17. What is a search engine? Web site that helps you to find information
Examples:-
Ask Jeeves, Bing, Google
How search engines work:-
Search web pages for different words
Create an index of the words and the pages that they are found on
Search the indexes using the words that the user entered
Display hyperlinks to the pages containing the words that the user entered

18. Basic search User enters one or more keywords
Sometimes the keywords are called a search string
The Enter key or search button is used to start the search for all or part of the search string
Well chosen keywords cuts down the time taken to find what you are looking for e.g.
Three toed sloth instead of sloth

19. Basic search … continued
Phrases are enclosed in quotation marks e.g. “Lesmahagow High School”
Search engine finds web pages that contain that complete phrase – not just part of it
Useful as the search results fewer web pages and they are more likely to contain what you are looking for
Pages that are found by a search engine are called hits

20. Advanced search Most search engines let the user use:-
AND – all keywords must appear on the web page
OR – at least one keyword must appear on the web page
NOT – a keyword must not appear on the web page e.g. Lesmahagow NOT school

21. Browser Questions Describe what a web browser does.
Which web browser do you use at home?
What feature of a browser can you use to remember URL’s of pages that you have visited?
What use is the History feature?
What do you use a search engine for?
Which search engine do you normally use?
Describe how a search engine works.

22. What is navigation?
How the user finds their way around an information system
Navigation methods when using a browser include:-
Enter URL into address bar
Forward and back buttons
Home button
Pages visited are stored in browser’s history

23. Navigation methods on a web page
Hyperlinks – link to another web page
Hotspots - text or graphics that activate a video, display a graphic or open a window
Breadcrumbs show the user’s position in the website

24. More navigation methods on a web page
Guided navigation – e.g. filters used on shopping websites
Tag clouds – an image containing keywords that are linked to web pages
Site maps -  a Web page that lists the pages on a Web site

25. Good website design to aid navigation
Range of text and graphic-based hyperlinks to provide a flexible way to move around
Navigation bar with links to different areas of the website
Site map showing all the pages
Consistent throughout the site so users get used to it
Keep the number of click to a minimum to get users to a page quickly

26. Navigation Questions
Explore the following navigation features then describe each:-
Breadcrumbs (e.g. PC World – find an Apple laptop)
Guided navigation (e.g. Debenhams)
Site Maps (e.g. Next – very bottom of home page)
State two features of website design that aid navigation

27. What is usability? How easy it is to use the website
An intuitive user interface increases the usability of the website
Good idea to use familiar icons where possible
Intuitive means you know instinctively what to do e.g. think of a smartphone’s user interface

28. Good website design to aid usability
A reasonable time to load the site
Adequate text to background contrast (not yellow text on a white background)
Font size that is easy to read
Consistent styles and colours
Flash is not used too much so that the website does not have excessive moving text, flashing graphics, etc
A clear company logo
A clear description of the company’s purpose
A clear path to contact information
Unobtrusive ads
Main content is visible before scrolling down

29. What is accessibility?
Websites should be designed to be usable by everyone – including people with disabilities
Methods of making a website accessible include:-
Speech recognition
Specialised pointing devices

30. Good website design to aid accessibility
For visually impaired users:-
Well chosen font, colour and size of text which helps readability
Careful choice of colour scheme
A screen magnification or zoom feature
Voice output option that reads text and commands for visually impaired users or users with reading or learning difficulties
Auto-complete when filling forms

31. Usability & accessibility questions
What is usability?
Describe two features of website design that ensure that a website is usable.
What is accessibility?
Describe two features of website design that ensure that a website is accessible to a person who is visually impaired.

32. Testing – National 5 Testing should check:- Links and navigation
Each web page matches the user interface design i.e. text and graphics are positioned correctly and correct colour scheme and font are used
Buttons
Menus
Input boxes
Graphics, videos, audio files
The website works with different browsers

33. Questions Name 3 features of a website that should be tested.
Many browsers and websites use cookies and plug-ins.
Use BBC Webwise to find out about them. Describe cookies and plug-ins.