QA for MIMAS A Case Study

Anne McCombe

MIMAS

Anne.McCombe@man.ac.uk

http://www.mimas.ac.ukhttp://www.mimas.ac.uk

Where we were in June 2002

Many people managing “own” web sites, each with own way of doing things

• Main MIMAS web site

• Different services• Different users

• Different appearance• Different standards

EIB

MIMAS Services (June 2002)

People

Each service managed differently: • Small teams putting up content, rarely for more

than one service• Several programmers – each doing things in their

own way• Different managers focusing on their own services• Central MIMAS web site managed by another

small team

Projects have web sites too, but no-one to maintain them.

How we manage web content

Over half our staff update web pages, in various ways, on Unix server or PC:

• Logon to Unix server and edit with emacs or vi• Live site, test site (shared) or own test site

• Copy to PC, edit and FTP back• Use Dreamweaver

Each service is responsible for its own web site. We do not have a single “web master”.

Accessibility legislation

The Goal: • To be compliant with WAI guidelines, level 1 for

existing sites, level 2 for new sites, by 1 September 2002.

How: • Raise staff awareness of the issues • Develop skills of web editors• Set up a team to coordinate, motivate, advise

ACE team

Accessibility Compliance Exercise team• Each section to be represented

Important to have support of all the managers• Variety of skills and experience

Accessibility champion Programmer Generalist Enthusiast Coordinator

Scoping the Project

ACE team: • Constructed a list of services or sets of web

pages, maintained by various people• Each was contact for a number of services • Met fortnightly to monitor progress

Service web editors:• Check their pages• Plan how to make them accessible • Estimate timescales

Documentation

Staff web area set up to make available:• Accessibility Policy• Accessibility progress of each service• How to get started, how to use LIFT etc.• Helpful tools• Training opportunities• Who is responsible for what• Case studies • Templates• Recommended Dublin Core Metadata

Accessibility Policy

• Check everything against WAI guidelines• Make existing sites Priority 1 compliant • Make new sites Priority 2 compliant• Write pages to HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.0• Use Cascading Style Sheets• Include approved Dublin Core metadata• Offer online documentation in HTML• Identify who looks after which sites• Obtain third party statements on accessibility • Accessibility statement for every service

Favoured tools

Audit: • Bobby, LIFT, and personal inspection• Familiarity with WAI guidelines

Checking:• http://validator.w3.org and equivalent bookmarklet• Dreamweaver LIFT• Xenu – for checking links in particular• Screen reader (IBM Home Page Reader)

Templates:• Copy MIMAS style template from staff web page

(XHTML 1.0 and HTML 4.0)• Service template in Dreamweaver

MIMAS Staff Workshops

Two sessions (20 people attending) covering: • Accessibility Policy• HTML and XHTML validation• Cascading Style Sheets and server-side includes• Dublin Core Metadata

• Using Dreamweaver and LIFT• Discussion on Frames, Netscape etc. • Screen reader demo

External training courses:• Accessibility, Dreamweaver and CSS at MC• Netskills, JISC workshops and others

Accessibility Statements

MIMAS aims to make its website as usable and accessible as possible...

• Request for feedback, offers of assistance etc. • Links to service accessibility pages to include:

Access Keys System Requirements Plug-ins Use of Frames or Java Supplier's accessibility statement Limitations

MIMAS Style Guide

Construct acceptable style guide • Date formats• Common words and phrases• Fonts, logos, colours

Look at current practice

Compare with University guide and those of collaborating institutions, eg. ESDS

Consult with staff

Declare and promote the MIMAS Style Guide

Update Accessibility Policy to refer to Style Guide

Documenting standards

New Procedure• Small team from a few services• Look for best practice in various services• One person writes first draft• Consultation within team, then wider to staff• Refinement• Announcement, and authorisation.

Challenges• Finishing off• Establishing new ways of working

Testing

No formal procedure but: • ACE team member involved in development of

new interfaces (eg. International Data, Census)• User interfaces are tested pre-release by

helpdesk support team or users

Browser/platform testing• Apple Mac with every conceivable browser• Unix server with Netscape 4.7• Many PCs, many browsers

Maintaining quality

Testing by users and staff

Spot checks• Call in the right person to help and be positive

Review and update accessibility policy• Check links, refer to style guide

Invite feedback from users• zetoc, Archives Hub, COPAC

ACE and QA

ACE team attends to Accessibility plus • Content management• Development of new sites• Documenting Procedures and Standards

Service web editors:• Sites are still independently managed • We have a much more co-operative approach• New services increasingly set standards at outset,

and consult others.

Where we are now

Every service is different but now we have an Accessibility Policy and…

• We know who is responsible for what• Everyone checks their HTML always• Everyone is more aware of accessibility issues• Everyone includes metadata• We have a procedure for archiving• All services have an Accessibility web page

Web sites are not developed in isolation

Yet to do…possibly

Document procedures, check lists for testing

Unify the appearance of services

Automate link checking

Improve Search mechanism

Experiment with a CMS for MIMAS

Prepare material for more workshops

Agree on everything

What we have learnt

Importance of:• Documenting standards early• Discussion and consultation• Talking to everyone together in one room• Being pragmatic• Responding positively to constructive criticism • Knowing about more than one service• Ask for help when you need it• Working together and sharing knowledge

Services at MIMAS (June 2003)