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Does Your Web Site Need a Tune Up?
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Stephanie Sharp
Plexus Web Creations
www.plexusweb.com
You might have the greatest looking web site in your industry, but do your users have problems viewing or using it? Does it take a long time for your site to load? Are disabled users able to view your site? Will your site work in the browsers of the future?
Use this checklist to help answer these questions.
Does your site:
- Validate according to HTML standards?
- Use graphics where text and HTML will suffice?
- Conform to accessibility guidelines?
- Work on mobile and handheld devices?
- Have broken links?
Sound too technical for you? Well, if you have a web site it's important you understand how to answer these questions. Here are some helpful hints.
1. Does your site validate according to HTML standards?
You can check this by going to WDG HTML Validator— http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/—enter your web address and it gives you a list of issues.
Why is this important? Everyone uses different web browsers and operating systems—each new version different from the last. If your site does not validate (conform) to web standards it has a high probability of not working for much of your audience. As web browsers advance and release new versions that more strictly interpret web site coding, the risk of your web site failing to work increases.
2. Does your site use graphics where text and HTML will suffice?
About 90% of the sites on the web are graphics heavy. In the past, using graphics for all things visual was the preferred and easier method for building sites. While page load time is a small issue now that a majority of users use high speed connections, bandwidth consumption remains a big issue.
The amount of bandwidth your site uses is directly proportional to the cost of the site. Most standard hosting accounts allow for 5-15GB of bandwidth per month. If your web site overuses images, you could be costing yourself unnecessary dollars.
Here's how it breaks out...
- 5GB = 5,000,000,000 bytes
- In today's web world, a standard hosting account offers 5GB of bandwidth before it charges additional fees
- The average size of a web page is about 100,000 bytes (100kb)
Let's apply this information to your bandwidth usage...
- Assume you have about 165 users/day and they each view 10 pages—165 users x 10 page views/day = 1650 page views/day
- 1650 page views x 100,000 bytes (average page size) = 165,000,000 bytes
of bandwidth/day
- 165,000,000 x 30 days per month = 4,950,000,000—You're almost at your limit!
Helpful hint: to reduce average page size, use non-graphical components wherever possible.
3. Does your site conform to accessibility guidelines?
There are many reasons to make your site accessible and protect your online brand:
- Demonstrate good corporate citizenship—don't discriminate against people with disabilities.
- Reduce the risk of litigation, costly settlements, unfavorable publicity, and potential loss of business.
- Capitalize on large market opportunity—over 10% of the online population is disabled (750 million people worldwide, 55 million Americans) with a total discretionary income of more than $188 billion dollars (source: iCAN)
- Comply with federally regulated guidelines and best practices—governments worldwide have enacted laws and regulations requiring websites to be accessible.
- Provide access to wireless devices.
- Accommodate an ageing population who over time experience similar issues as those with disabilities.
For a quick and easy way to find out if your site complies with Section 508 go to http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp.
4. Does your site work on mobile and handheld devices?
Yes, it's important your site work on all browsers and operating systems, but more and more users are doing business over pocket PC's and cell phones. If your web site contains frequently accessed information, you will want to ensure they can access this information from any device.
By becoming standards compliant as addressed in #1 above, you have accomplished this task. Congratulations! If you aren't sure how your web site will look on a mobile device the best thing to do is to check your own cell phone. If you don't have Internet access, you can go to http://www.gelon.net/ to test it.
5. Does your site have broken links?
Nothing is more frustrating than getting to a web site, clicking, and seeing the very popular 404 page not found error. This is an easy problem to check and fix. Go to http://validator.w3.org/checklink.
Your web developer should be able to resolve all the issues listed above. If you aren't able to reach your web developer or you designed and built your site and you need assistance, Plexus Web Creations is available to help you. Please visit our site at http://www.plexusweb.com for more information or contact us at (706) 353-2048.
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