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Benchmarking your Web Site

Marieke Napier

UKOLN

University of Bath

Bath, BA2 7AY

UKOLN is supported by:

Emailm.napier@ukoln.ac.ukURLhttp://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

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1. Introduction

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A Bit About Me...• I work for UKOLN (UK Office For Library and

Information Networking), located at the University of Bath

• UKOLN is a national centre of expertise in digital information management

• Funded by JISC and Resource with additional funding from EU, UK, etc. project work

• We provide a brokerage function (workshops etc.) and are active in dissemination

• The contents of this workshop have been informed by the WebWatch work and the WebWatch column in Ariadne

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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?

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Session AimsThis session is a:

• Hands-on session with group discussionsBy the end of the session you should:

• Be aware of the current recommendations for standards

• Be able to bench mark 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

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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.

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Guidelines Available Now

It is important to keep your organisation’s Web site in line with current standards:

• Government guidelines are available• MAPIT’s Better Connected? 2001 Web site

survey

• MAPIT’s Local e-government now publication, produced with IdeA

• SPIN-SOCITM Web site Awards

• The WebWatch work

By July all authorities in England will need to submit their Implementing E-government Statements (IEGs) to the

department of the Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR).

By July all authorities in England will need to submit their Implementing E-government Statements (IEGs) to the

department of the Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR).

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2. Evaluation Exercises

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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

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Qualities of Measurement

WebCriteria defines the qualities of measurement as being:

• Relevance - every criterion must be relevant to its purpose

• Objectivity - criterion must be repeatable and consistent

E.g Web site speed • Server speed• Page size• Someone’s opinion• Load times

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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/http://www.netmechanic.com/

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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/

A “rolling demonstration” of University entry points is available at:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/site-rolling-demos/universities/

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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/http://watson.addy.com/

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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

• WAVE is another accessibility checker

http://www.cast.org/bobby/http://www.cast.org/bobby/

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Are there Broken Links?

Monitoring the number of broken links on your Web site is very important

• Xenu • LinkAlarm • Xenu• Linkguard• Nodeworks• Netmechanic• Site valet

http://www.linkalarm.com/http://www.linkalarm.com/

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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/http://www.linkpopularity.com/

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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/http://www.anybrowser.com/

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Comparing Statistics

Hit counters have developed into comprehensive Web statistical services that can give immediate feedback on user visits

• Web-based statistical services such as SiteMeter provides information on the whole site

• Nedstat provides information on individual pages

http://www.sitemeter.com/http://www.sitemeter.com/

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3. Benchmarking

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Benchmarking Exercises

You will:• Benchmark your Web site in relation to others

in your community

And learn:• Some of the issues involved when using

externally hosted Web tools• About various other benchmarking activities• About WebWatch surveys of communities

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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• Robots.txt files

See: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/See: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/

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How did Your Home Page look?

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?

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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

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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.htmlhttp://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html

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Next Generation V.Tools

There is a need for more 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

Examples of such tools include WebKing, Freshwater Software, WebCriteria

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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

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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?

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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

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Question Time

Any questions?