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    CAPP 498D Web Design Methodology and Technology

    Standards Manual Template


    Jan Willard


    Page last revised: 08/10/01

     
     
     
     

    Home Page

    Required Topics for Initial Submission of Standards Manual:
     

    1. The "look and feel" down through all levels. For a small site (200 or so pages), there should probably be no more than four levels. Link to LEVEL (0) Home Page
    2. Consider how links will be placed and used. Links should not be intrusive. And when used to lead the viewer off your site, use them with care and purpose.

      All external links will be created as a new page, verified and allow the user to come back to the home page.   If a link does not give a user this ability, I will not use the link or pre-warn the user of this potential behavior

    3. How and/or if frames will be used. Frames help with navigation, reduce the maintenance load, and facilitate space parsing, but can confound the uninitiated.

      4. Frames will be used on LEVEL (1), but NOT on LEVEL (0).  The home page will be one page that is easily book marked.   Starting at LEVEL (1), frames are used to allow a user a constant table of contents on the left-hand-side page, while the right-hand-page provides all content within the site and allows the user a reference to home and various sections at all times. 

    4. Navigation through your site. You should never let viewers get lost, no matter what they do. Viewers should always be able to undo whatever they do and always be able to find an index.

      5. Navigation for the user is menu driven, easily accomplished, reminding the user that no matter where he/she is, one can come return to the default page LEVEL (1) or to any other page listed on the table of contents.   It is the goal not to force the user out of this navigation style.  Each footer on each page on this level shall have a HOME key and at LEVEL (1), the Main Page key by default will direct the user back to the Home page.

      [-07/26/01-] revised

      Searching and finding Information

      Finding information from the HOME Page LEVEL (0) provides several links. 1) The first link is the search engine link that provides an internal search of the entire sites search engine.   The search engine index is refreshed weekly to provide the most up-to-date changes within the site.   One selects either the name or a quoted string and submits for the search.  The search engine creates an index database, that is pointed to where you are doing a search on your specific site.   The database then re displays the found URL's asked for. 2) The next link is the sitemap.   The sitemap is a graphical index to the entire site showing the different layers and sub layers under each underlined link.   It is analogous to a table of contents, with the actual pages being displayed when the user clicks the topic.     3) The next link is the what's new link that encompasses all of the changes by the latest date on the site.   This provides a chronological listing as well as work list of the sites design and changes.   4) The last link is the About this site, which describes the purpose of the site, background and the requirements analysis of the site.   The web site is developed around this purpose and will follow the guidelines and requirements.
    5. Use of graphics, video, and audio. Multimedia effects can be both good and evil.

      6. Multimedia will not be used on this site at this time.  However, there will be extensive use of *.jpg,*.gif and possibly some embedded *.wav files.  Every effort will be made to use thumbnails of images, to speed the loading of any page with graphics.  Audio files may be used to enhance some examples of various engines and their unique sounds.  There is an alternative FLASH page planned to coincide with the current home page.  

    6. Text run length and use of restricted width columns.

      7. This site will maintain a constant width not to exceed 640 pixels except in the use of ALT tabs on images that point to full size images for alternate viewing of a thumbnail.  In some circumstances these images may exceed the 640 pixel width screen size.  

    7. Alternate formats to accommodate the disabled, printing, and browser variations.

      8. All images shall have ALT keys with descriptions of the image, not just "Click Here".  The entire site shall work with Netscape Navigator 4.5,4.7 + and Internet Explorer 5.0 + versions. 

      [-07/25/01-] revised

      Disabled Users

      This site shall attempt to be consistent as defined in he Web Accessibility Guidelines, referred to in the W3C Recommendations(Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, 2001).  These include image maps by using ALT tags with AREA or MAP elements as text.  The requirement is to produce defined textual comment for each ALT tag.   Content within all pages shall adhere to consistency and the use of CSS to provide ease of reading and viewing being respectful of disabilities defined within the W3C Accessibility Guidelines.

    8. Use of header and footer snippets to maintain page consistency.

      9. All pages including the home page shall have a header and footer to provide consistency and style throughout the web site.


      Required Topics after initial submission (with due dates announced in class and in syllabus): (Please use the same numbering scheme in your template.  Keep the text that is below and fill in your information below each numbered item.  If/when you add additional items, see below for format.)
       

    1. Accessibility

      2. LEVEL (0) will provide accessibility by different browsers, speeds from 28.8baud and higher, and by individuals with disabilities.   This statement requires application for certification from sites such as BOBBY, TIDY and TOM.  Efforts will be made to correct as many infractions that can be met and yet still maintain the theme and beneficial content on the site.  Applying to these sites, can correct as many infractions of the disabilities standards that can be met, and yet still maintain the theme and beneficial content of the site. 

      [-07/25/01-] revised

      All images and image maps will provide text equivalent descriptions about content of the images.   Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) shall be used consistently throughout the site to provide speed of downloading, structure and ease of readability.   All pages including new pages will be tested on older versions of Netscape, IE and current published versions for compatibility and meeting requirements of older browsers, screen size and resolution.   Text must be visible if CSS does not work on older browsers.   Colors and background combinations must be compatible for anyone who has color deficiencies, hence, using safe browser colors and combinations of colors.  Site should be readable and clear if viewed in black and white.
    2. Maintainability

      3. This site will be easy to maintain, and update with a "What's New" link visible on the HOME page.  The link,"What's New" will point to a description and date of change page for everyone to see.   Server Side Includes (SSI) will be used to display current date and last date changed, providing the hosting server allows the use of SSI.

      [-08/01/01-] revised

      Structure

      The structure of LEVEL (0) is composed of the home page at the top level. The LEVEL (0) like the root of a tree.  Here is the entry point to the table of contents and default page on LEVEL (1). With the Home Page on a different server than the LEVEL (1) pages, any links to the LEVEL (1) pages must be absolute links rather than relative.   Although this is not the best design, it is very easy to change for only pages that are pointed to by the HOME Page.  This is the only tag on these LEVEL (1) pages that needs to be absolute.   An example would be on LEVEL (0) the structures page would be accessed from the HOME Page and from the Structures page back to the Home page on LEVEL (1) would be an absolute link.   If this is not done, the user will be confused that once into the site, and navigation becomes inconsistent.   This is not acceptable file and navigation structure.

      Coding Issues

      To verify that all coding is working correctly to LEVEL (0) and back to any other LEVEL (1,2,3) must be validated.   I use the web site Search utility on a weekly basis to check any changes in my code as far as links are concerned.   The report generated sweeps the entire site and produces a report that identifies which links are not working.   This has to be corrected immediately.   Secondly within the code, is the issue of consistency in using headers and footers with SSI.   All files that are using SSI are saved as *.shtml files.   These are stored in the same root directory as the *.html files.   The editor HOMESITE by Altaire is used as the primary editor.   After a page is finished, the code is validated against the HOMESITE code analyzer for infractions in HTML XHTML, javaScript, ASP and SSL.   A style of coding is necessary for continuity for the next designer that might follow behind and have to fix something.   Currently, all code is hand-written without the use of external automatic code generators.  When testing a new page, it is always best to check it first in Netscape, then Internet Explorer.  I test with 3 version of Netscape, version 3.0, 4.7 and 6.0. All pages must work with all three versions as well as multiple versions of IE.



      Documentation, Rules, and Collaboration

      When developing web pages, it is necessary to document when using nesting multiple tags, where various tables, forms, and html tags start and end.   If a change is made in an HTML page, the date of the change will be noted to reflect the last time a change was made.   This is separate from the SSI include statement that looks for a file that has changed since the last time and places that date on the *.shtml page.   Comments are very important for remembering and helping some else who might have to modify your code sometime in the future.   If something took considerable effort to implement the code, you should document only the essentials that would simply explain the coding.   Indentation, and proper spacing are required as well as helpful in reading the code when there is a problem.  Since HTML ignores white space, use it for something constructive.   These rules are no different that writing software in any other language.   If you borrow some code of any kind, it should be documented as to who the original author was, the date it was created, and that you modified the code on a specific date.   Remember, anyone can read your code on the Internet.   Anything that is not yours needs to be acknowledged and properly documented.  


      The rules for testing and implementing code follow the following requirements.  : 1) All development code, forms, and images reside first on the test server, Polaris.  There is a mirror image of what is currently on the test server at the Unix Polaris Server.   All ideas are first developed on the test server, NT 2000, saved and then ftp'd to the polaris machine.   The directory structure on Polaris is:

      /*.html ( All html code )
      /images/ *.jpg, *.gif (majority of images keep here )
      /images/roundhouse/ *.jpg (special image for a specific page )
      /documents/ *.html (all documents that are referenced from the web site)

      The production server is first developed on the NT server in a directory called Hosteam.   The actual web server is at Ho Steam Central in Virginia.   The file and directory structure is:

      /*.html ( All html code )
      /images/ *.jpg, *.gif (majority of images keep here )
      /images/roundhouse/ *.jpg (special image for a specific page )

      /documents/ *.html (all documents that are referenced from the web site)

      Anything that is on the production server must be checked with the various browsers on the Polaris Unix server first, then ported to the Production Server.

    3. Privacy Statement

      4. [-08/10/01-] revised


      There shall be a page dedicated to privacy issues as it pertains to any individual's information collected and used by this site.  This section shall address the policy of handling and protecting the privacy of this information.  From LEVEL (0) this page is seen from the splash page for the 1st time.   It will be a link on every page on all levels.   With the advent of the design services module to be on LEVEL (1), this is important as it defines the extent and protection of information gathered on this site.   This document will describe the policy of privacy on HO Steam Central as well as addressing personal information and how the information will be used.   Currently only forms will be used to gather personal information that relates to the buying of design services from HO Steam Central.   Cookies are not currently being used.   If this policy changes in any way, the document must reflect any change and when the change occurred so there is no misunderstanding or ambiguity on the part of the web site and the customer.

    References Used:
    Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. (2001). Retrieved from the
         World Wide Web: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/


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