Benchmarking Your IT Services Web Site
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Transcript of Benchmarking Your IT Services Web Site
Benchmarking Your IT Services Web Site
Brian Kelly
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath, BA2 7AY
UKOLN is supported by:
[email protected]://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
A Bit About Me...
Brian Kelly:• UK Web Focus – a JISC-funded post to advise HE
and FE communities on Web developments• Based in UKOLN – a national focus of expertise in
digital information management• Based at the University of Bath• Involved in Web since 1993, while working in
Computing Service at University of Leeds• Strong links with Computing Service and Library
communities• The workshop has been informed by UKOLN’s
WebWatch work and the WebWatch column in Ariadne
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A Bit About You...
Could you turn to your neighbour and ask:
• What do you want to get out of this workshop?
• What do you think benchmarking is?
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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.
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Session Aims
This session:• Hands-on exercises with group discussions
By the end of the session you should:• Be able to benchmark your Web site in
relation to other sites in your community• Have had hands-on experience in using
auditing and evaluating tools• Have considered other types of
benchmarking activity available
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Today’s Exercises
Hands-on exercises to evaluate:• The look and size of your organisation’s home
page• The accessibility of your Web site• The validation of your Web site• How popular your Web site is
How many sites link to it How many people visit it
• How your Web site looks with different browsers• Commercial Web site auditing tools
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The Size of Your Home Page
You can find out the size of your home page using various tools:
• NetMechanic• Bobby
http://www.netmechanic.com/http://www.netmechanic.com/
Ex. 1.1
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The Look of Your Home Page
What type of entry point is yours?
A “rolling demonstration” of University entry points is available at:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/site-rolling-demos/universities/
A “rolling demonstration” of University entry points is available at:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/site-rolling-demos/universities/
Ex. 1.5
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Does it Work?It is useful to check key pages for accessibility, validation and functionality.
Web page validators include:
• NetMechanic• Dr Watson• DrHTML - single pages
only• LinkTool• Usable Web• EchoEcho
http://watson.addy.com/http://watson.addy.com/
Ex. 2
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Is it Accessible?• The Bobby Web service can check the accessibility of
individual Web pages
• The Bobby Java application can check the accessibility of Web sites (now licensed software)
• WAVE is an alternative to Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby/http://www.cast.org/bobby/
Ex. 2.1, 2.7
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Are there Broken Links?
Monitoring the number of broken links on your Web site is very important
Desktop and Web-based tools are available:
• Xenu • LinkAlarm • Linkguard• Nodeworks• NetMechanic• SiteValet• …http://www.linkalarm.com/http://www.linkalarm.com/
Ex. 2.6
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How Popular is Your Site?
There are a number of services that will tell you how many pages link to your Web site
• WebSiteGarage
• LinkPopularity
• Netscape’s What’s Related service is used through the Netscape browser
http://www.linkpopularity.com/http://www.linkpopularity.com/
Ex. 3.13.2
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What about Other Browsers?Does your home page (and Web site) work in:
• Netscape very popular in UK HE)
• IE (the most widely used browser)
• Significant (all?) versions and platforms of above
• Lynx (text browser which may be used by visually impaired)
• AnyBrowser
• DejaVu
http://www.anybrowser.com/http://www.anybrowser.com/
Ex. 4
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Comparing Statistics
Hit counters have developed into comprehensive Web statistical services that can give immediate feedback:
• Web-based statistical services such as SiteMeter provides information on the whole site
• Nedstat provides information on individual pages
http://www.sitemeter.com/http://www.sitemeter.com/
Ex. 3.4
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Benchmarking Exercises
You have:• Benchmarked your Web site in relation to others
in your community• Recorded your findings
And learnt about:• Some of the issues involved when using
externally hosted Web tools• Other benchmarking activities• WebWatch surveys of communities
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Once you have completed the exercises, report on your findings
Once you have completed the exercises, report on your findings
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Home Page Size Issues
There are certain issues necessary for consideration when using these tools:
• What is a home page? Splash screens Spawning new windows
• Frames• Graphics and graphics folders• Dynamic pages• robot.txt files
See: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/See: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue28/web-watch/
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How Did Your Home Page Look?
Types of entry points:• Traditional menu structure• Changeable page, with news• Personalised page• Dynamic page • “Splash screens”• Spawning new windows• Pages requiring specialist browser functionality
(e.g. plugins, Java support, etc.)
What type was yours?
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Other Benchmarking Activities
What other type of benchmarking activities are useful? • Monitoring Content Quality and ‘Freshness’• New developments and technologies - scripts,
other markup languages, personalisation• Stress and security• Search engine used on site and 404 pages• Server numbers• Visibility on search engines • Usability e.g. by evaluating user feedback• Performance checkers and Independent testing
services
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Performance Checkers
Applications can be used to check the performance of your Web site but often at a price
• E-Test Suite• Keynote• Somix• Entuity• Prutsman
Keep your eye on:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.htmlhttp://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html
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Next Generation ToolsThere is a need for sophisticated testing tools which:
• Use rules: which allow you to ignore types of errors can output special error messages for personal
errors can be time or area dependant
• Can check all aspects of your Web site - network, machines, processes (code) and individual files
• Can mimic Web browsing behaviour (browsers, cookies, etc.)
Examples of such tools include WebKing, Freshwater Software, WebCriteria, …
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Independent Testing Services
Occasionally it may be necessary to outsource testing.
The benefits of doing so include:• Saving time and resources• Tapping in to outside expertise and experience
dedicated to testing• Testing tool independence• Objectivity
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Discussion
• What WebWatch surveys would you like to see carried out?
• Is there a need for a government funded WebWatch-type survey across all institutional Web sites? If so:
– Who should do it?
– How comprehensive should it be?
– How would it be funded?
• Would you prefer to outsource your testing? • Would you be interested in benchmarking
regionally?
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Conclusion
• Different tools give different results and results can be limited. The results should be analysed carefully - like statistics
• Independent testing services can be beneficial• Comparison is useful• However a league table is not enough, for this
type of evaluation. To have a point there should be follow up action
Any questions?