1. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk UKOLN is supported by: Benchmarking Web Sites Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY Email B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

2. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 Timetable 10:45Introduction 10:45Benchmarking Web Sites – What And Why? 11:00Hands-on Benchmarking Exercise 12:30Lunch 13:15 Hands-on Benchmarking Exercise (cont) 13:45Report Back 14:15Discussion 14:45Accessibility 15:30Conclusion 15:45Workshop ends NOTE Times are subject to change NOTE Times are subject to change

3. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 A Bit About Me... Brian Kelly: UK Web Focus – a JISC-funded post to advise HE and FE communities on Web developments Based in UKOLN – a national focus of expertise in digital information management Based at the University of Bath Involved in Web since 1993, while working in Computing Service at University of Leeds Links with IT Service & Library communities The workshop has been informed by UKOLN’s WebWatch work and the WebWatch column in Ariadne

4. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 A Bit About You... Could you turn to your neighbour and ask: What do you want to get out of this workshop? What do you think benchmarking is? D

5. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 Benchmarking: A Definition Benchmarking is about identifying and measuring best practice processes that work elsewhere and then emulating them. The aim is to reduce duplication by learning from others who have already found the solution. It is about: Understanding your weaknesses Comparison with your peers Note that best practices are constantly evolving.

6. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 Session Aims This session: Hands-on exercises with group discussions By the end of the session you should: Be able to benchmark your Web site in relation to other sites in your community Have had hands-on experience in using auditing and evaluating tools Have considered other types of benchmarking activity available Be in a position to decide whether to adopt this methodology in your institution or your region

7. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Today’s Exercises Hands-on exercises to evaluate: The look and size of your organisation’s home page The accessibility of your Web site The validation of your Web site How popular your Web site is  How many sites link to it  How many people visit it How your Web site looks with different browsers Etc. Commercial Web site auditing tools E Now open the exercises handout

8. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 The Size of Your Home Page You can find out the size of your home page using various tools: NetMechanic Bobby … http://www.netmechanic.com/ Ex. 1.1

9. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 The Look of Your Home Page What type of entry point is yours? A “rolling demonstration” of University entry points is available at: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/site-rolling-demos/universities/ Ex. 1.5

10. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 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 LinkTool Usable Web EchoEcho … http://watson.addy.com/ Ex. 2

11. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 Is it Accessible? The Bobby Web service can check the accessibility of individual Web pages The Bobby Java application can check the accessibility of Web sites (now licensed software) WAVE is an alternative to Bobby http://www.cast.org/bobby/ Ex. 2.1, 2.7

12. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 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 … http://www.linkalarm.com/ Ex. 2.6

13. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 How Popular Is Your Site? There are a number of services that will tell you how many pages link to your Web site WebSiteGarage LinkPopularity Netscape’s What’s Related service is used through the Netscape browser http://www.linkpopularity.com/ Ex. 3.1 3.2

14. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 14 What About Other Browsers? Does your home page (and Web site) work in: Netscape very popular in UK HE) IE (the most widely used browser) Significant (all?) versions and platforms of above Lynx (text browser which may be used by visually impaired) AnyBrowser DejaVu http://www.anybrowser.com/ Ex. 4

15. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 15 Comparing Statistics Hit counters have developed into comprehensive Web statistical services that can give immediate feedback: Web-based statistical services such as SiteMeter provides information on the whole site Nedstat provides information on individual pages http://www.sitemeter.com/ Ex. 3.4

16. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 16 Benchmarking Exercises You have: Benchmarked your Web site in relation to others in your community Recorded your findings And learnt about: Some of the issues involved when using externally hosted Web tools Other benchmarking activities WebWatch surveys of communities E Once you have completed the exercises, report on your findings

17. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 17 Home Page Size Issues There are certain issues necessary for consideration when using these tools: What is a home page?  Splash screens  Spawning new windows Frames Graphics and graphics folders Dynamic pages robot.txt files See: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/

18. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 18 Look Of Your Home Page Types of entry points: Traditional menu structure Changeable page, with news Personalised page Dynamic page “Splash screens” Spawning new windows Pages requiring specialist browser functionality (e.g. plugins, Java support, etc.) What type was yours?

19. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 19 Other Benchmarking Activities What other type of benchmarking activities are useful? Monitoring Content Quality and ‘Freshness’ New developments and technologies - scripts, other markup languages, personalisation Stress and security Search engine used on site and 404 pages Server numbers Visibility on search engines Usability e.g. by evaluating user feedback Performance checkers and Independent testing services

20. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 20 Performance Checkers Applications can be used to check the performance of your Web site but often at a price E-Test Suite Keynote Somix Entuity Prutsman Keep your eye on: http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html

21. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 21 Implementing A Benchmark Survey To implement your own WebWatch- style benchmark across a community you can simply examine WebWatch articles and adapt the HTML for your own use. Further details at http://bobby.cast.org/bobby/bobbyServlet? URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.brent.gov.uk%2F&output=Submit&gl=wcag1-aaa Technique Used Use the Web service on a site Copy URL into template Determine URL structure Use as basis for use with other URLs

22. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 22 Next Generation Tools There is a need for sophisticated testing tools which: Use rules:  which allow you to ignore types of errors  can output special error messages for personal errors  can be time or area dependant Can check all aspects of your Web site - network, machines, processes (code) and individual files Can mimic Web browsing behaviour (browsers, cookies, etc.) Examples of such tools include WebKing, Freshwater Software, WebCriteria, …

23. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 23 Independent Testing Services Occasionally it may be necessary to outsource testing. The benefits of doing so include: Saving time and resources Tapping in to outside expertise and experience dedicated to testing Testing tool independence Objectivity Would you be interested in a neutral 3 rd party testing your Web site? If so, how much would you be willing to pay? Would you be interested in a body in the HE/FE sector carrying out a benchmarking survey and comparing findings with your peers? Would you be interested in a neutral 3 rd party testing your Web site? If so, how much would you be willing to pay? Would you be interested in a body in the HE/FE sector carrying out a benchmarking survey and comparing findings with your peers?

24. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 24 Discussion What WebWatch surveys would you like to see carried out? Is there a need for a government funded WebWatch-type survey across all institutional Web sites? If so: Who should do it? How comprehensive should it be? How would it be funded? Would you prefer to outsource your testing? Would you be interested in benchmarking regionally?

25. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 25 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 Any questions?