Self-Assessment For Web Sites

This page provides access to a number of Web-based self-assessment checks in order check the validity of Web sites.

Self Assessment Of Web Sites

Access to the self assessment checks is available below. These can be used to check a Web site's entry point.

HTML Compliance

You can use W3C's HTML compliance testing service yourself for checking the project home page or other resources on the Web site. You can do this either by going to the HTML Validator or by entering a URL in the following box:

The recursive HTML compliance testing service makes use of the Web Design Group HTML compliance checking tool. The recursive validator will check up to 100 pages on a Web site.

You can use the service yourself by going to the Web Design Group Validator or by using the following box.

CSS Compliance

You can use the HTML compliance testing service for checking the project home page or other resources on your Web site. You can do this either by going to the W3C CSS compliance checking tool or by entering a URL in the following box:

Link Checking

You can use the W3C link checking service for checking the project home page or other resources on your Web site. You can do this either by going to the W3C link checking tool or by entering a URL in the following box:

The following box can be used to check multiple pages:

HTTP Headers

You can use the HTTP testing service for checking the project home page or other resources on your Web site. You can do this either by going to the Web Wizards tool page or by entering a URL in the following box:

Alternatively you can use the W3C HTTP Head Service either by going to the service or by entering a URL in the following box:

Embedded Dublin Core Metadata

You can use the DCdot Dublin Core metadata editor for checking Dublin Core metadata which is embedded in a Web page. You can do this either by going to the DCdot tool or by entering a URL in the following box:

 

Comments

HTML Compliance

Web resources should comply with an open published HTML DTD. Note that common problems include omission of the DTD and omission of the character encoding. For further information see the briefing document on "Compliance with HTML Standards."

CSS Compliance

CSS used in Web resources should comply with a CSS standard. For further information see the briefing document on "Use Of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)."

Accessibility

Web resources should comply with appropriate Web accessibility guidelines. Note that the Bobby accessibility checking tool used here provides only limited checking for accessibility. For further information see the briefing document on "Use of Automated Tools For Testing Web Site Accessibility."

Link checking

You should seek to minimise the numbers of broken links on your project Web site. In particular you should avoid broken links to internal resources. Note that link checking tools should not be limited to checking conventional <a href="..."> links, but also links to external CSS files, JavaScript files, etc. For further information see the briefing document on "Approaches To Link Checking."
You should also note that in addition to link checking tools sometimes missing broken links, you may sometimes find that link checking tools also sometimes report problems with links when this isn't the case. In particular at the time of writing (September 2003) due to configuration problems with the JISC Web site hosting agency, links to the JISC Web are reported as broken even if the resources actually exist.

Checking Dublin Core Metadata Embedded In HTML Pages

If you decide to embed Dublin Core metadata in HTML pages, you should ensure that you describe the Dublin Core elements correctly. The DCdot tool can be used to check pages with embedded Dublin Core elements. It will check, for example, that you are using DC.Creator and not DC.Creator.

 

QA Procedures

If you spot any errors using the self assessment tools described above you should seek not only to fix the errors but also to implement appropriate quality assurance procedures to ensure that you have appropriate procedures for systematically checking for errors and minimising errors.