Web Development
Web Developer Guidelines
Visual Design Recommendations

Core Guidelines

  1. General (X)HTML
  2. Tables
  3. Links
  4. Lists
  5. Images
  6. Forms
  7. CSS
  8. Metadata
  9. General Content
  10. Page Structure
  11. Site Structure
  12. Downloadable Documents
  13. Privacy

General (X)HTML

No. Checkpoint Source
1.1 All pages include the correct DOCTYPE declaration Priority 2
1.2 All web pages validate to the DOCTYPE declaration Priority 2
1.3 HTML elements are correctly used semantically Priority 2
1.4 Deprecated elements are not used Priority 2
1.5 The primary natural language of the document has been specified in the HTML of all pages Priority 3
1.6 Identify changes to any non-English language Priority 1
1.7 <blockquote> element is not used to indent text Priority 2
1.8 Long quotes use the <blockquote> element Priority 2
1.9 Where an abbreviation or acronym has first been used on a page, it has been expanded Priority 3
1.10 Further uses of the abbreviation or acronym have been marked up using the <abbr> element Priority 3
1.11 ASCII art (for example, smilies) are marked up using the <abbr> element Priority 1
1.12 Appropriate HTML character entities are used for special characters Priority 2
1.13 Auto-refresh has not been used in the site Priority 2
1.14 Auto-redirect has not been used in the site Priority 2
1.15 tabindex has not been used DEECD
1.16 HTML source code is readable DEECD
1.17 The website must be functional and presentable using the specified list of browsers DEECD

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Tables

No. Checkpoint Source
2.1 Tables use relative sizing Priority 2
2.2 Data tables are marked up using the summary attribute Priority 3
2.3 Data tables are marked up using the caption element where appropriate Priority 3
2.4 Data table row and column headers are marked up appropriately Priority 1
2.5 If tables are used for layout they should make sense when linearized. Layout tables should not contain summary attribute, <caption> element or table headers <th> Priority 2
2.6 Complex tables must be avoided DEECD

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No. Checkpoint Source
3.1 Link text is not overly general and is meaningful when read out of context Priority 2
3.2 Identical link text is not used for different targets on the same page Priority2
3.3 URLs are not used as the displayed text of a hyperlink Priority 2
3.4 All adjacent links are separated by non-linked, printable characters Priority 2
3.5 The text displayed in all mailto: links must be the email address DEECD
3.6 All hyperlinks are underlined in the content DEECD
3.7 External links are indicated DEECD
3.8 Links to secure areas requiring password access are appropriately indicated DEECD
3.9 All links to downloadable documents must contain the file type and file size in the link DEECD
3.10 Site has no broken links DEECD
3.11 All links open in the current browser window Priority 2
3.12 Popup windows are not used on the site Priority 2
3.13 All active regions of a client-side image map are also separately listed as redundant text links Priority 1
3.14 Tabbing a hyperlink must give the same visual cues as when using the mouse to hover over the link Priority 1

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Lists

No. Checkpoint Source
4.1 Appropriate HTML markup is used for all list items Priority 2
4.2 All terms and definitions are marked up using the definition list <dl> element Priority 2

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Images

No. Checkpoint Source
5.1 Images are correctly created and optimized for web page use DEECD
5.2 Images containing important textual information are only used if the text appears elsewhere in the content Priority 1
5.3 Images that convey a lot of information have a long description and/or "D" (description) link Priority 1
5.4 All images have the height and width attributes specified in the <img> element DEECD
5.5 Images used as list bullets are specified in the CSS stylesheet and not in the HTML of the web page Priority 1
5.6 All image maps are client-side and have accessible features Priority 1
5.7 Site is functional and readable without images Priority 1
5.8 All images have alt attributes Priority 1
5.9 An image that conveys no information has a null alt attribute Priority 1
5.10 All images have an alt attribute which explains the function of the image Priority 1
5.11 Images that are links have an alt attribute that describes the target of the link Priority 1
5.12 Logos are specified in the alt attribute Priority 1
5.13 Symbols have alt attributes that specify the exact meaning of the symbol Priority 1
5.14 Animated gifs have an alt attribute that include all the information provided in the animation Priority 1

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Forms

No. Checkpoint Source
6.1 All <form> controls must have a <label> element Priority 2
6.2 All forms should have at least one <fieldset> element Priority 2
6.3 The <fieldset> and <legend> form elements have been used for logical groups of fields Priority 2
6.4 Mandatory fields have been indicated using an asterisk and the colour red DEECD
6.5 All form fields have descriptive text labels Priority 2
6.6 All field labels immediately precede the relevant field Priority 2
6.7 All image submit buttons have an alt attribute that clearly describes the function of the button Priority 1
6.8 Forms must be functional with JavaScript turned off Priority 1

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CSS

No. Checkpoint Source
7.1 Stylesheets have been used for layout and presentation Priority 2
7.2 Stylesheet validates Priority 2
7.3 External stylesheets only are used Priority 2
7.4 Font family is set to Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Sans-serif DEECD
7.5 All font sizes use relative units and not absolute units Priority
7.6 Print stylesheets are used DEECD
7.7 CSS file is constructed logically and contains meaningful comments Priority 1
7.8 Site is functional and readable with CSS disabled Priority 1

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Metadata

No. Checkpoint Source
8.1 The complete, mandated metadata is included Priority 2
8.2 Page titles are used on every page and in the correct format Priority 2
8.3 No metadata that is not part of the mandated set is present on the website Priority 2

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General Content

No. Checkpoint Source
9.1 All foreground and background colours in text have sufficient contrast Priority 2
9.2 Where colour has been used to convey information, the information is also available through context or markup Priority 1
9.3 Do not cause the screen to flicker or text to blink Priority 1
9.4 Any movement in the site stops of its own accord or can be stopped by the user Priority 2
9.5 Ensure event handlers are input-device independent Priority 2
9.6 Navigation is consistently applied on every page Priority 2
9.7 Global navigation appears on every page Priority 2
9.8 All navigation is text based Priority 2
9.9 Search functionality must be provided for all pages WoVG
9.10 A sitemap has been provided listing main pages in the site Priority 2
9.11 Appropriate logos have been used and have been linked correctly WoVG
9.12 No occurrences of Coming Soon or Under Construction appear on the pages DEECD
9.13 Frames are not used DEECD
9.14 Spelling has been checked DEECD
9.15 Pages are printable DEECD

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Page Structure

No. Checkpoint Source
10.1 Visible Skip to content link is provided at the top of every page Priority 3
10.2 There is consistency between page title, headings and navigation items Priority 3
10.3 All long pages have anchor links to logical sections of the page and have Back to top links Priority 3
10.4 Tab order is logical and navigates from top to bottom, left to right Priority 3
10.5 Content comes after the navigation items in the HTML structure and not vice versa DEECD
10.6 All pages have correct HTML heading structure Priority 2
10.7 The correct version of website analytics is used DEECD
10.8 The copyright, disclaimer and privacy statements are all present and linked appropriately WoVG
10.9 The Created on: date is present WoVG
10.10 The Last modified: date is present and automated WoVG
10.11 A contact (either to a name or to a page) is present on each web page WoVG

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Site Structure

No. Checkpoint Source
11.1 The home page for each subdirectory is called default.htm or index.htm (or .asp) DEECD
11.2 Standard directory structure is used DEECD
11.3 Artwork files have been provided to the site owner DEECD
11.4 Appropriate naming conventions have been adhered to DEECD

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Downloadable Documents

No. Checkpoint Source
12.1 All PDF and MS Word documents contain metadata DEECD
12.2 PDF and MS Word files are accessible DEECD

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Privacy

No. Checkpoint Source
13.1 Student anonymity is protected DEECD
13.2 Pages with forms that collect personal information must have an explicit privacy statement IPA 2000
13.3 The site only collects the personal information that is required for its function or activities IPA 2000

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