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http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/swmlac-2005-10/
Making Effective Use Of
Benchmarking Tools
Brian Kelly
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath
Email:
[email protected]
This presentation describes the
advantages and disadvantages
of benchmarking tools and
ways of maximising the
effectiveness of such tools.
UKOLN is supported by:
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Background
Problems
You've identified some problem areas for users of Web
sites:
• Functionality – it doesn't work
• Usability – it's difficult for me to use
• Accessibility – it's difficult for people with disabilities
to use
Solutions
Let's review the approaches you've taken to spot such
problems and explore how to use the tools effectively:
• Tools that can help
• Processes that can help
• A Quality Assurance (QA) framework
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Tools
Tools: Functionality (1)
HTML, CSS, … Validation:
• Web page doesn't look right in my browser
• First thing: validate page!
Useful tools:
• W3C's HTML validator:
can spot functionality &
accessibility problems
• W3C's CSS validator
• RSS validator (if you have
an RSS newsfeed)
•…
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Tools: Functionality (2)
Link Checking:
• Clear need to ensure links work
• Many tools available
Validated part of my Web area
Findings:
• 12,514 Web pages!
• Only checked internal links
• Large no. of errors – but
vast majority false errors
• Some errors found in areas
provided by others
• Others my fault – and
mostly fixed
Issues:
• We can't always rely on tools
• Why weren't errors spotted
previously?
centre
expertise
in digital
information
• WhatAto
do ofwith
large
no. of
errors?management
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Tools
Tools: Accessibility
Many accessibility testing tools are available
http://webxact.watchfire.com/
http://www.wave.webaim.org/
WebXact (formally known as
Bobby) is probably best known
The WAVE and Cynthia Says
are other accessibility checkers
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NOTES
• Automated tools can't detect
all (many?) accessibility
problems
• Findings from tools can be
inconsistent
• Underlying WAI guidelines
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are open to interpretation
Tools: Usability Of The Tools (1)
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/
documents/briefings/,rvalidate
There can be usability barriers
to regular use of such testing
tools:
• They require going to Web
page, copying and pasting
URL, etc
• Sometimes only single
pages can be tested
Simple solution:
• On UKOLN Web site can
append ,tools to any
URL to run various tools on
Tools:
page
,validate
,rvalidate
,checklink
,rchecklink
• Simple to implement – see
QA Focus briefing
no. 59
,cssvalidate
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Tools: Usability Of The Tools (2)
'Bookmarklets' and Firefox extensions can make use of
tools much easier and provide additional features
Web Developer allows:
• Features disabled
• Additional information
to be provided
• Tools to be used
Checky allows:
• Validation
• Link checking
• Access to misc tools
These tools are very
useful and their use by all
is strongly encouraged
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Quality Assurance
The tools aren't sufficient by themselves. Also need:
• Documented policies: so we know what we're
expected to check for
• Systematic procedures: for checking that we are
implementing our policies
• Corrections made to workflow processes, and
not just fixing individual problems
In addition it can be useful to have:
• Audit trails: to spot trends and identify possible
problems in workflow processes (e.g. new tools
deployed, new staff involved, …)
• Sharing experiences, so that we and others can
learn
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QA Examples (1)
Example of QA policies & procedures for file formats
Policy for QA Focus Web site
Policy:
The Web site will use XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0
standards
Architecture:
The Web site will be based on XHTML templates and
use of SSIs
Monitoring:
New and updated pages validated using ,validate
and ,cssvalidate. Every month ,rvalidate will be
used & record kept
Exceptions:
HTML derived automatically (e.g. Save As HTML in
PowerPoint) need not comply with standards. The files
will be stored in a standard directory to enable such files
to be excluded from checks.
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QA Examples (2)
Example of QA policies & procedures for links
Policy for QA Focus Web site
Policy: QA Focus will seek to ensure that links are functional.
Monitoring:
New and updated pages checked using ,checklink
and ,rchecklink. Every month ,rchecklink will be
used & record kept and quarterly Xenu will be used.
Exceptions:
Links in "publications" (e.g. papers which are formally
published) which become broken may not be fixed.
If there are large numbers of broken links which would be
time-consuming to fix we may not fix them.
We make no commitment to fix broken links once the QA
Focus funding finishes.
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Conclusions
To conclude:
• Tools can help in identifying problems
areas
• However tools may be flawed and
inconsistent
• In order to make tools easier to use they
can be accessed: (a) using a URL
interface or (b) within the browser
• Systematic use as part of a QA framework
is desirable
Note, however, that is essential that you do not rely purely on
automated
tools
– you
will need
to engage with your
users
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centre of expertise
in digital
information
management
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Questions
Any questions or comments?
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