a centre of expertise in digital information management qa and the iwmw web site: a case study...

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

QA And The IWMW Web Site: A Case Study (flaws and all)

Brian KellyUKOLNUniversity of BathBath, BA2 7AY

[email protected]://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

UKOLN is supported by:


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The IWMW Web Site


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Aims Of Web Site

The aims of the Web site were:• To provide information about the

workshop for participants, speakers, etc.• To provide an online booking facility• To act as a demonstrator of standards,

best practices and innovative solutionsSubject to the following constraints:

• No Content Management System• Limited time• Limited software development / design

expertise


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ApproachThe approach taken was to continue to use:

• The design and structure used for previous two workshops

• The HTML-Kit authoring tool to edit HTML files• The Xenu link checker

Innovations this year include:• Use of HTML and CSS validation icons• Provide an XHTML Web site• Make greater use of CSS• Provide a dynamically-generated RSS news feed• Provide live usage statistics• Access to Web site on PDAs using AvantGo

Is this approach typical of yours – incremental development of an existing Web site, and introducing new features and more up-to-date standards?

Is this approach typical of yours – incremental development of an existing Web site, and introducing new features and more up-to-date standards?


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ToolsHTML-kit is my preferred editor

The XHTML and CSS icons act as live linksThe SiteMeter icon gives realtime info on usage

The XHTML and CSS icons act as live linksThe SiteMeter icon gives realtime info on usage


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Problems

Some problems:• When updating pages, links, HTML and spelling

were not checking systematically• When using the HTML and CSS checker the

browser could check an old, cached version• At one stage the SiteMeter usage statistics

service was not available


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Validating In Batch

Checking (e.g. HTML and CSS validation, links, accessibility, etc.) initial files is time-consuming and, for large or continually updated Web sites is not a scalable solutionValidation in batch:

• Familiar for link-checking• Limited set of tools available for HTML validation

(e.g. HTML Validator Pro – see <http://www.htmlvalidator.com/>

• Batch HTML validation validates files generated from PowerPoint, over which I have no control

• Bobby batch accessibility check is now a licensed application (but used copy downloaded in the past)


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Maintenance

• When creating new pages, made use of existing files and sometimes did not update the <TITLE>, metadata, etc.

• The location of certain files was not obvious (the size of the Web site has now outgrown the original navigational links)


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Netscape (sigh)

User feedback revealed that:• £ does not display in Netscape :-(• The Suggestions text box and the Submit button

(!) were not displayed in Mozilla, due to failure to support XHTML correctly

Suggestions

Submit


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RSS News FeedThe RSS News Feed:

• Provides a mechanism for syndication of content• News feed can be viewed on other Web sites or

in other applicationsThe News Feed was created:

• By transforming (lightly structured) HTML from the news page using a remote service

• A static version was also created in case of problems with the live transformation

Problems:• The remote service was not always available• The static version was not always in sync with the

live version


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Online Bookings

The online booking forms:• Were used for booking for the workshop and

choosing the parallel sessions

The backend processing:• Is not yet fully automated to store the information

in a database• Confirmation page did not echo the user’s data• When users followed link to check session, input

data may have been lost• Crashed on surnames with spaces and accents• No validation was performed

Despite messages on acknowledgements page, some users still expected a separate email confirmation


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What Should Be Done

Some simple things can be done for next time:• Use of SSIs or a CMS (or equivalent ) to manage

resource fragments• Improve the online booking system to provide:

• Validation (which will save time in administration)• Display of user input• Separate confirmation of entry into database

But should I:• Recognise that minor typos, etc. will happen and,

as long as they are not critical, can be tolerated?


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What About The Processes?

What QA processes were used?• Automated tools• Peer review from members of the organising

committee• Alternating between Opera, IE and Mozilla when

working on Web site• Viewing the Web site on my Palm to:

• Allow me to work on the bus, train, etc.• See how the Web site works on a low-spec device


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What Else Should I Do?

Additional processes I should employ:• Reviewing by users• Peer-reviewing (others in similar situation)• Analysis of logs (esp. failure logs)• Usability testing• Multiple browser testing• Test data with unusual entries for online forms• Post-workshop review of Web site• Systematic documentation of successes and failures• Make case for extra resources, software, etc. to

implement improvements• Documenting the architecture of the Web site• Documenting the limitations of the Web site• Preparing these slides!• …


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Questions

Any questions?

a centre of expertise in digital information management qa and the iwmw web site: a case study...

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