benchmarking your web site
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Benchmarking Your Web Site
Brian KellyUKOLNUniversity of BathBath, BA2 7AY
EmailB.Kelly@ukoln.ac.ukURLhttp://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
UKOLN is supported by:
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
2
Contents• Introduction• Why Benchmark?• What Is Benchmarking?• Tools For Testing Web Sites• From Testing To Benchmarking• Case Studies:
WebWatch Surveys Of UK University Sector• Commercial Approaches• Discussion
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
3
What Do You Think Benchmarking is?Could you turn to your neighbour and ask:
• What do you think benchmarking is?
• How you think benchmarking can help you?
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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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.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Aims Of This Talk
By the end of the session you should:• Be able to benchmark your Web site in
relation to other sites in your community• Have seen examples of use of 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 organisation
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
6
Approaches To Benchmarking
There are a number of approaches to benchmarking of Web sites:
Manual Benchmarking• Use of manual techniques such as questionnaires,
usability studies, etc.
Automated Benchmarking• Automated benchmarking makes use of software
tools to support benchmarking • Approaches can include:
• Dedicated benchmarking software products, typically running on desktop PC
• Use of benchmarking services available on the Web
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Benchmarking Approaches
Manual: End users involved in process Can receive feedback which cannot be obtained
using software Can be time-consuming and expensive
Automated: Can be less expensive Can scale to many thousands of resources Restricted to aspects which software can
process
This talk deals mainly with automated benchmarking, using Web-based tools
This talk deals mainly with automated benchmarking, using Web-based tools
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Web Testing Services
Many Web-based services are available for reporting on various aspects of Web sites, including:
• HTML compliance• Browser compatibility• Broken Links• Load Time• Accessibility• Link popularity• …
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Example - NetMechanic
NetMechanic:• A Web-based
service for checking Web sites
• Various functions available for free
• Additional functions such as more comprehensive testing are licensed
http://www.netmechanic.com/http://www.netmechanic.com/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Example – Doctor HTML
Doctor HTML:• A Web page
analysis tool• Free for
testing individual pages
• A licensed version can be installed locally for checking entire Web sites
http://www2.imagiware.com/RxHTML/http://www2.imagiware.com/RxHTML/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
11
Example - Bobby
Bobby:• A Web-based
accessibility checker
• Can test individual pages
• A licensed downloadable version can check entire Web sites
http://bobby.watchfire.com/http://bobby.watchfire.com/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Example – Link Popularity
Link popularity:• An indication of
the popularity of a Web site
• Can be obtained by analysing search engines such as AltaVista and Google
http://www.linkpopularity.com/http://www.linkpopularity.com/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
13
Example – Server Analysis
Netcraft’s server analysis provides details of:
• Web server software
• Operating system environment
• Server availability (limited)
• Nos. of servers in domain
http://www.netcraft.com/http://www.netcraft.com/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
14
Example – Server AnalysisThe University of Dundee provide a HTTP analysis tool:
• Analyses HTTP headers
http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/general/wizards/fetchhead.html
http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/general/wizards/fetchhead.html
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Usability
Usability normally requires manual testingHowever automated support tools are also available such as WebSAT
http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/WebTools/WebSAT/operation.html
http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/WebTools/WebSAT/operation.html
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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From Testing To Benchmarking
These tools are typically used for testing individual pages on one’s own Web siteHowever applying tools across other Web sites allows:
• Comparisons to be made with competitors and collaborators
• Examples of best practices to be found and lessons learnt from
• Examples of problems to be found and mistakes avoided
• Trends to be monitored by repeat surveys• Limitations of tools to be found by testing across
wide range of Web site environments
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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UK HE Case Studies
Every 3 months a WebWatch survey is published in the Ariadne e-journal:
• Surveys include:• Accessibility of entry points• Nos. of Web servers• Nos. of links to organisation• Size of entry points• Web server software• Relationships
• Together with manual surveys of:• Search engine software• 404 error pages
• See: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/webwatch/articles/#latest>
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Accessibility
In September 2002 Bobby was used to analyse the entry points the UK University Web sites.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue33/web-watch/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue33/web-watch/ FindingsOnly 4 pages appeared to comply with Bobby AA guidelinesFurther analysis revealed that only 3 complied
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Size Of Home Page
The size of UK University entry points was analysed in 1998 and repeated in June 2001
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/
The reasons for the large entry points was reviewed.
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Numbers Of Web Servers
A survey of the numbers of Web servers was carried out in 2000 and repeated in 2002
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/web-watch/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/web-watch/
Most institutions have a small number of Web servers but a few have over 100
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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What’s Related?
Netscape’s What’s Related tool was used to record:
• Popularity• Nos. of pages
indexed• Nos. of links to site
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue27/web-watch/
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue27/web-watch/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Links To University Web Sites
A survey of the number of links to UK University Web sites was published in 2000
The survey used the AltaVista and Infoseek search engines
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/web-watch/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/web-watch/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Search Engines
A manual survey of search engines used on UK University Web sites was carried out in 1997 and has been repeated every 6 months in order to monitor trends
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue30/web-watch/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue30/web-watch/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
24
404 Error Pages
A (manual ) survey of 404 error pages on UK University Web sites was carried out in 1999 and repeated in 2002.
WebWatch: 404s - What's Missing? June 1999<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue20/404/>
Revisiting 404 Error Pages In UK University Web Sites, June 2002, <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue32/web-watch/>
WebWatch: 404s - What's Missing? June 1999<http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue20/404/>
Revisiting 404 Error Pages In UK University Web Sites, June 2002, <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue32/web-watch/>
The original survey and article helped to raise the importance of well-designed 404 pages as an important navigation feature
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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404 Error PagesSignificant changes have been made since the findings of the first survey was published
Apache/1.3.6 Server at www.shef.ac.uk Port 80
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Limitations Of This Approach
What limitations do you think this approach may have?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Limitations
Limitations
Reliance on third party tools Inconsistencies
across tools
Unusual aspects of Web sites Inadequacies of
automated tools
Can’t handle Intranets
Performance implications
Legal and ethical issues
Personalision, cookies, etc.
Lim
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
28
Reliance On Third Party Tools
This approach relies on use of third party software:
• Company may go out of business• Company may introduce charging or change
conditions of use• Companies may change format of its output• Company may change algorithms (possibly
without notification)
Example:• The Bobby accessibility checker withdrew
a summary of the file size of resources.• CAST sold Bobby: the new company
introduced limitations to use of Bobby
Example:• The Bobby accessibility checker withdrew
a summary of the file size of resources.• CAST sold Bobby: the new company
introduced limitations to use of Bobby
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
29
Intranets, etc.
Use of public third party Web sites for testing:• May not work with Intranets or Web sites which
require a username and password to access
Possible Solution Some testing services allow you to give a username and password
If you do this, you are trusting the service not to steal the username and password!
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
30
Inconsistencies
Different tools may have inconsistent approaches
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ExampleNetMechanic and Bobby (previous version) reported on the file size of analysed pages.Bobby only analysed the HTML page and inline images.NetMechanic also included external JavaScript and stylesheet files.NetMechanic respected the Standard for Robot Exclusion (SRE) and would not analyse images if the SRE banned access.Bobby ignored the SRE.
ExampleNetMechanic and Bobby (previous version) reported on the file size of analysed pages.Bobby only analysed the HTML page and inline images.NetMechanic also included external JavaScript and stylesheet files.NetMechanic respected the Standard for Robot Exclusion (SRE) and would not analyse images if the SRE banned access.Bobby ignored the SRE.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
31
Inadequacies
Automated tools:• Are not suitable for testing all aspects of a Web
site• Need to be complemented by manual testing• Reliance on automated results without warning
notices can cause confusion
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Accessibility TestingAutomated tools such as Bobby can report on missing ALT tags
However automated tools cannot report that a meaningful ALT tag is given
<img src=“important-graph”>
<img src=“important-graph”> alt=“”>
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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Performance Implications
Automated tools:• Could degrade the performance of Web
sites if poorly designedLim
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Case StudyA HTML validation tool was used to check A Web site.Shortly after it was used, it was found that it repeatedly sent HTTP requests to a Web site, which felt that this was a denial-of-service attack.
Case StudyA HTML validation tool was used to check A Web site.Shortly after it was used, it was found that it repeatedly sent HTTP requests to a Web site, which felt that this was a denial-of-service attack.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
33
Legal And Ethical Issues
If your survey findings:• Give a negative impression of a Web site• Are flawed, and give an mistaken negative
impression of a Web site
could you be sued?
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Case StudyWebWatch surveys seek to highlight examples of best practices.Care is taken in the language used when problems are reported.
Case StudyWebWatch surveys seek to highlight examples of best practices.Care is taken in the language used when problems are reported.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
34
Personalisation
How should testing tools behave if Web sites provide personalised interfaces:
• Make use of username details to personalise context
• Personalise the interface based on the user’s browser
• Personalise the interface based on other environment factors (e.g. time, referer page, language setting, etc.)
Lim
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
35
Unusual Aspects
How should testing tools deal with other unusual aspects of a Web site such as:
• Web page redirects Splash screens• Pop-up windows Frames• etc.
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ExampleWhen you give a URL the Web page is redirected to another URL.The new page displays a splash screen for 5 seconds and then moves to a new page with contains frames.In addition a pop-up window is displayed.How many pages are there?
ExampleWhen you give a URL the Web page is redirected to another URL.The new page displays a splash screen for 5 seconds and then moves to a new page with contains frames.In addition a pop-up window is displayed.How many pages are there?
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
36
Benchmarking And QA
The benchmarking approach may be used to:• Ensure that Web sites comply with standards and
best practices• May be of interest to funding bodies• UKOLN involved in work in this area to ensure
that projects comply with standards and best practices in order that they will be interoperable
See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/surveys/>
See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/surveys/>
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Who Else Is Doing This?
Who else may be carrying out benchmarking surveys?
We will use a Google search for:• “accessibility surveys”, “Web site benchmark”,
“HTML compliance surveys”, etc.
In order to explore other approaches including:• Commercial approaches• Non-commercial approaches
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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US Accessibility Surveys
Axel Schmetzke has carried out surveys of the accessibility of selected US University Web sites
http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/websurveys.htm
http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/websurveys.htm
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
39
Try It For Yourself
The methodology which has been described can be used by yourself across your community
Benefits:• You will get an idea of how your compare with
your peers• For national bodies, funders, etc. you can gain a
profile of your community• There may be opportunities for describing your
community at conferences, etc.
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
40
Implementing A Benchmark Survey
To implement your own 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.cast.org/bobby/bobbyServlet? URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.brent.gov.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
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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Implementation (2)
Simple technique:• Copy URLs into a
template
Better technique:• Create HTML file using
a server-side script
Better technique:• Use a backend
database so resources can be more easily managed
<a href=“tool?url”>Try it</a> …
<!-- query_string=http://…/tool.cgi?URL=$website -->
Do for all websites<a href=“query_string?$website”>Try it</a>
…
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
42
Next Generation Tools
We can expect to see further development in testing tools:Why?
• Compliance with, say, e-Government guidelines• Ensure Web sites work e.g. e-commerce
How:• Tools which provide richer functionality (e.g.
dealing with personalised Web sites)• Development of “Web services” for testing• Agreement on standards e.g. what is a Web
“page”• Development of XML standards for interchange of
results e.g. EARL
A centre of expertise in digital information management
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Resources For You To Use
A series of exercises on Web site benchmarking is available, which contains details of a number of benchmarking tools
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/ucisa-tlig-2002/benchmarking/
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/ucisa-tlig-2002/benchmarking/
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
44
Questions
Any questions?
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