Quality%20Assurance%20For%20Museum%20Web%20Sites:%20Benchmarking%20Survey

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Quality Assurance For Museum Web
SitesBenchmarking Survey

• Brian Kelly
• UKOLN
• University of Bath
• Bath, BA2 7AY

Email B.Kelly_at_ukoln.ac.uk URL http//www.ukoln.ac.
uk/
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Benchmarking Survey

• A number of surveys carried out
• Over small number of museum-related Web sites
• Analysed various objective factors including
• HTML compliance ? CSS compliance
• Broken links ? Accessibility (partial)
• Server software / HTTP errors
• Aims of surveys
• To identify common problem areas
• To discuss testing tools and strategies
• To inform discussions on strategies for fixing
  and avoidance of problems

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Notes

• The following Web sites were surveyed
• mda ? 24hourmuseum
• Bath Postal Museum ? American Museum
• Natural History Museum
• National Museum of Science and Industry
• The aim of surveys is to demonstrate the
  methodology and discover common problems
• This is too small a sample for any valid
  conclusions to be drawn
• If PC facilities had been available for a
  hands-on workshop, you would have had the
  opportunity to assess your own Web site

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HTML Compliance
Compliance with HTML standards is needed to
ensure Web sites work effectively and can be
repurposed.

• Findings
• Only 1 (of 6) entry points compliant!
• 3 entry points had no DOCTYPE (if no DOCTYPE,
  validator can't spot errors)
• 1 entry point had 63 and 1 had 155 errors
• 1 entry point had no character encoding
• The 3 entry points with a DOCTYPE used HTML 4

Comments It is important to address the workflow
and tools in order to include DOCTYPE and
character encoding. There is a need to consider
migration to XHTML
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CSS Compliance
CSS should be used to define the appearance of
HTML elements. Use of CSS helps the accessibility
of resources. Compliance with CSS standards is
needed to ensure Web sites appear correctly
effectively.

• Findings
• CSS used by 4 of 6 Web sites ?
• Only 2 of the 4 Web sites use compliant CSS ?

Comments There is a need to make even greater use
of CSS. CSS needs to be validated!
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Accessibility
Compliance with accessibility guidelines is
needed to ensure that resources can be used by
people with disabilities and to avoid
contravening SENDA legislation.

• Findings
• Only 2 entry points complied with WAI A
• Five entry points had 1 error (but multiple
  instances) typically missing ALT text

Comments Use of Bobby is a flawed approach for
checking accessibility. There is a need for
manual testing and greater coverage. However the
survey indicates problems which need to be
address in the workflow. There is also a need for
organisations to think about how they should
approach the challenge of Web accessibility
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Links
Broken links can be annoying for end users.
Certain types of broken links can also prevent
Web sites from functioning correctly.

• Findings
• 2 entry points had broken links
• A recursive check of up to 150 pages finds a
  small number of pages with broken links for 5
  sites
• 1 site could not be analysed recursively

Comments The W3C validator validates not only ltA
HREF".."gt elements but also ltLINK HREF".."gt
used to link to external stylesheet, Javascript,
etc. files.
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Server Software
Mis-configured server software can sometimes
cause access problems. A comprehensive survey
can identify the most popular server software,
identify trends, etc.

• Findings
• No server problems found
• 2 sites use MS IIS and 4 use Apache
• 1 uses MS ISS 4.0 1 uses MS ISS 5.0 4 use
  Apache 1.3 0 use Apache 1.4 or 2.0

Comments As well as spotting mis-configured
server software a more comprehensive survey would
enable early adopters of software to be spotted,
significant trends, etc. This may help in sharing
expertise, support,
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404 Error Pages
404 error pages are problems one of the most
popular pages on your Web site! A properly
designed 404 page can help users to find the
resource they are looking for.

• Findings
• Only 1 of the 6 sites had a tailored 404 page
• The NHM provides a good example -
  lthttp//www.nhm.ac.uk/foogt

• Comments
• A well-designed 404 page will
• Have the organisation's branding
• Will have navigational bars, search facilities,
  help,
• May be personalised

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Internet Archive
The Internet Archive may contain old copies of
your Web sites. This may be of interest from an
historical perspective.

• Findings
• All sites are available in the Internet Archive

Comments The Internet Archive is an example of
repurposing of your Web site. If your site is
not available, this could indicate problems which
could affect other types of tools. Alternatively
unavailability could indicate that you were
banning robots from your Web site
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NetMechanic
This commercial tool reports on several areas,
including HTML errors, browser problems,
spelling, page sizes, etc.

• Findings
• 1 site has broken link on home page
• 3 home pages have HTML errors
• Load time of home page appears to range from 2.07
  to 43.9 secs

Comments How reliable are these findings?
Remember to ask if the figures appear reasonable.
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Review

• We have
• Used a number of freely-available Web-based tools
  for checking aspects of a number of Web sites
• Identified a number of problems
• Explained why the problems need to be addressed

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Any Questions?