W3C WebStandards

The term web standards can mean different things to different people. For some, it is simply 'table-free sites', for others it is 'using valid code'. However, web standards are much broader than that. A site built to web standards should adhere to standards (HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, XSLT, DOM, MathML, SVG etc) and pursue best practices (valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, user-friendly URLs etc).

In other words, a site built to web standards should ideally be lean, clean, CSS-based, accessible, usable and search engine friendly. In addition to the checklist below, we will use the following sites to test validation for the work we do for our clients:

XHTML Validator:  http://validator.w3.org/

CSS Validator:  http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

Accessibility Guide: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html

The Checklist

The following checklist is used by our staff to ensure we acheive high Web standards. This is not a perfect checklist, there are probably many items that could be added. It should also be noted that this is a list of items that we feel must be addressed on every site that we develop. It is simply a guide that can be used as a handy tool for developers during the production phase of websites as well as to communicate to our prospective clients how we achieve high web standards.

Quality of code:

    •    Does the site use a correct Doctype?

    •    Does the site use unnecessary classes or ids?

    •    Is the code well structured?

    •    Does the site use a Character set?

    •    How does the site perform in terms of speed/page size?

    •    Does the site use Valid (X)HTML?

    •    Does the site use Valid CSS?

    •    Does the site use any CSS hacks?

    •    Does the site have any broken links?

    •    Does the site have JavaScript errors?

Degree of separation between content and presentation:

    •    Does the site use CSS for all presentation aspects (fonts, colour, padding, borders etc)?

    •    Are all decorative images in the CSS, or do they appear in the (X)HTML?

Accessibility for users:

    •    Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images?

    •    Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts?

    •    Is colour alone used for critical information?

    •    Is there delayed responsiveness for dropdown menus (for users with reduced motor skills)?

    •    Are all links descriptive (for blind users)?Does the site use relative units rather than absolute units for text size?

    •    Do any aspects of the layout break if font size is increased?

    •    Does the site use accessible forms?

    •    Does the site use accessible tables?

    •    Does the site use visible skip menus?

Accessibility for devices:

    •    Does the site work well when printed?

    •    Is the content accessible with images switched off or not supported?

    •    Does the site work well in Hand Held devices?

    •    Does the site include detailed metadata?

    •    Does the site work acceptably across modern and older browsers?

    •    Is the content accessible with CSS switched off or not supported?

    •    Does the site work in text browsers such as Lynx?

    •    Does the site work well in a range of browser window sizes?

Basic Usability:

    •    Are heading levels easy to distinguish?

    •    Are visited links clearly defined?

    •    Is the site's navigation easy to understand?

    •    Is the site's navigation consistent?

    •    Does the site use consistent and appropriate language?

    •    Is there a clear visual hierarchy?

    •    Does the site have a sitemap page and contact page? Are they  easy to find?

    •    For large sites, is there a search tool?

    •    Is there a link to the home page on every page in the site?

    •    Are links underlined?

Site management:

    •    Does the site have a favicon?

    •    Do your URLs work without "www"?

    •    Does the site have a meaningful and helpful 404 error page that works from any depth in the site?

    •    Does the site use friendly URLs?