Re: Web Quality Ideas

<quote who='Karl Dubost' when='10/10/2006 08:55'>

> Let's a very simple case a static Web page written in XHTML 1.1 with CSS 
> instructions. How do we define the good use for this simple case? How do 
> we "certify" the quality? Some of the things to check:
> 
>   - Validity of XHTML 1.1
>   - Correct use of mimetype application/xhtml+xml
>   - Correct use of CSS
>   - Correct Mimetype for CSS
>   - Language of stylesheets is declared or not if we do not use style 
> element or externql CSS but only style attributes.
>   - HTTP. Are the http headers used appropriately?
>   - What about the semantics of the elements? Are they accordingly with 
> what the specification is saying?
>   - Do we include WCAG checking?
> 
> And then, there is the process, for this only one page, when and how do 
> we check that the page respects the defined criteria?

And then, there is also the practice itself: two CSS designers have each 
their own way of writing their CSS code, who's to say that one is better 
than another.

Samely, I'm prone to using several H1's on a page, whereas many people 
feel that it's a betrayal of the spirit of HTML (hierarchical structure 
seen in a pyramidal mental model) to use more than on H1 per page. Who's 
to say when this is wrong or right, or simply best, to use one, two or 
three level-one headings?

(these points are made to illustrate the difficulty of certification).

> Now, multiply this on a Web site of thousands and/or million of Web 
> pages and you get a huge machinery which in a context of Web services 
> would be impossible to manage. If one page fails, does the site loses 
> its quality label? Which percentage of failure is acceptable?
> 
> It doesn't mean that we have to give up on quality, but that it's not a 
> label, it's an ongoing process. There are initiatives in these 
> directions. For example, Laurent Denis, Eli Sloim have worked on a 
> Quality Framework which is very useful to keep track of your quality 
> criteria when creating/maintaining a Web site.

We have the same problem at the moment in my company with applying the 
WCAGs. technically, a criteria is not fulfilled if it's not 100% ok. For 
instance, you may have 100 images on a page, but we in my company say 
the work is not done if one image has no alt text. Should we say it's 
99% good, or should we say it fails the criteria?

For lack of time, I can't help more with evangelism and QA, but oh, 
would I love to.

-- 
Stéphane Deschamps
   personal: http://www.nota-bene.org/
   org: http://www.evolt.org/
   french org: http://www.pompage.net/

Received on Monday, 16 October 2006 01:20:05 UTC