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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
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
UKOLN is supported by:
Benchmarking RSC Web SitesBrian KellyUKOLNUniversity of Bath
[email protected]://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
Randy MetcalfeOSS WatchUniversity of Oxford
URLhttp://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/
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Timetable10:45 Introduction 10:50 Benchmarking Web Sites11:00 Hands-on Benchmarking Exercise12:30 Lunch13:15 Hands-on Benchmarking Exercise (cont)13:45 Report Back14:15 Open Source Software14:45 Discussion15:30 Conclusion16:00 Workshop ends
NOTETimes are subject to change
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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
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A Bit About You...In small groups address the questions:
• Who are you, where do you work and what do you do?
• What do you want to get out of this workshop?
• What do you think benchmarking is?
D
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Your Expectations
Your Interests & expectations
Sharing
Learning
Best practices
Quality
Testing
CheckingConstraints
Staffing
Finances
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Benchmarking: A DefinitionBenchmarking 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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Session AimsThis session:
• Hands-on exercises with group discussionsBy 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
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Today’s ExercisesHands-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
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The Size of Your Home PageYou can find out the size of your home page using various tools:
• NetMechanic• Bobby• …
http://www.netmechanic.com/
Ex. 1.1
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The Look of Your Home PageWhat 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
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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/
Ex. 2
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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 (now licensed software)• WAVE is an alternative to Bobby
http://bobby.watchfire.com/
Ex. 2.1, 2.7
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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
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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/
Ex. 3.13.2
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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/
Ex. 4
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Benchmarking ExercisesYou have:
• Benchmarked your Web site in relation to others in your community
• Recorded your findingsAnd 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
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Home Page Size IssuesThere 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/
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Look Of Your Home PageTypes 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 ActivitiesWhat 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 CheckersApplications 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
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Implementing A Benchmark SurveyTo 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://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue29/web-watch/>
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/bobbyServlet?URL= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jisc.ac.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
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Next Generation ToolsThere 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, …
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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
Any questions?
