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Web Standards Checklist
About the Checklist
This checklist is not all-inclusive. The intent is to provide designers with a guide to ensure that the websites they design are:
- Compliant with Web Standards as developed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
- Accessible to all users
- Adhere to the OWU Brand
W3C Standards Compliance
- Correct Doctype Declaration
- The Doctype declaration is always at the top of a created page. In general, a Doctype tells the browser what kind of code is in use, and how to render it. While there are dozens of possible ones to use, University Communications recommends using 1 of the following:
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- HTML 4.01 Strict
- XHTML 1.0 Transitional
- Both declarations can be found on the W3C site
- Valid code structure and use
- Valid code will render quicker than code with errors. Browsers are becoming more strict when it comes to standards compliance, so it follows that all code written for a webpage must be valid. W3C offers free validators to check your code for standards compliance. W3C Validator for HTML and XHTML pages and for CSS. Also, it is important that webpages are free of broken links. W3C offers a free link validator.
Accessibility to All Users
- As OWU is a private organization, adherence to Section 508 is not required, but recommended.
- Section 508 refers to a statutory section in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (found at 29 U.S.C. 794d). Congress significantly strengthened section 508 in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Its primary purpose is to provide access to and use of Federal executive agencies’ electronic and information technology (EIT) by individuals with disabilities. The statutory language of section 508 can be found at www.section508.gov.
- Use of "alt" attributes for all images
- When using images in a webpage, the use of "alt" tags is required. An "alt" tag is a textual description of something that is nontextual (pictures).
- Use of "accesskeys" and "titles" for all links
- Adding the "accesskey" attribute and the "title" attribute to all links increases the accessibility of a webpage. Accesskeys and titles are "shortcuts" for differently-abled persons.
Adherence to the OWU Brand
- Our institution's brand is the total experience we create for our students, faculty, parents, alumni and our community.
Offsite Links for Web Development
