The Alexa Traffic Rank gives a statement about the popularity of the tested website.
"The traffic rank is based on three months of aggregated historical traffic data from millions of Alexa Toolbar users and is a combined measure of page views and users (reach). As a first step, Alexa computes the reach and number of page views for all sites on the Web on a daily basis.The main Alexa traffic rank is based on the geometric mean of these two quantities averaged over time (so that the rank of a site reflects both the number of users who visit that site as well as the number of pages on the site viewed by those users)."
Source and further information: www.alexa.com.
The tested web site contains a good (<= 500'000) traffic ranking.
Frames break numerous conventions that web users had grown used to, e.g. the possibility to save a specific website as a favourite or to mail the direct URL to a friend. In addition, when viewed with older browsers, frames disable the 'Back' button and make it impossible to print out the webpage. Frames are to be avoided as far as possible, even though later generation browsers can handle them better.
Source:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger
Further information:
http://www.html-faq.com/htmlframes/?FramesAreEvil
The tested website does not use frames.
Intros inhibit website users to access the information they were looking for. In addition they convey the impression that the website owners place more importance on the design than on the offer of information or solutions to their customers. A website needs to instantly communicate what it is about and what a user can expect to find. The website must also take account of the little time available to the website user. It should be noted that users spend in average only 2 minutes on a website.
An intro page to allow language or regional choice is unnecessary, as there is a possibility to identify this automatically.
Javascript intros for re-directing and configuration purposes are also discouraged, even though users hardly notice them, as they have an impact on search engines and accessibility. Nowadays there are better alternatives to be used server-side.
Please note that you may not be able to see an intro page, depending on language settings, IP address and other user criteria. The intro page may, however, show for other users, and it is available for search engines, spiders and bots.
Source:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger
Further information:
http://www.kundennutzen.ch/intros.php
http://nitzsche.info/de.pub-2-vorschaltseiten.php
No intro page was found on the tested website.
The website must contain a precise "title tag", a page title. This is based on the following:
- The title is displayed on the title bar of the browser window.
- The title is used when setting a bookmark (or favourite).
- The file title is shown in the browser in the list of pages previously searched.
- Many search engines offer the title as a hyperlink.
- Search engines use the content of the title for their search.
- Website users often only read the first words and should therefore have enough information about the website.
Therefore, default titles such as "untitled document" or "untitled page" or just "title" are not useful.
Further information:
http://www.aboutwebdesign.de/awd/content/1089111663.shtmlhttp://ranta.info/ThemaTitle
The tested website contains a page title.
The website must contain a precise and meaningful "title tag", a page title. This is based on the following:
- The title is displayed on the title bar of the browser window.
- The title is used when setting a bookmark (or favourite).
- The file title is shown in the browser in the list of pages previously searched.
- Many search engines offer the title as a hyperlink.
- Search engines use the content of the title for their search.
- Website users often only read the first words and should therefore have enough information about the website.
Equally important is the choice of precise and meaningful titles. The content should be summarised in the title, helping users to find the information needed. According to Nielsen, titles should not be longer than 60 characters.
Source and further information:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger and
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html,
http://www.usability-now.com/suchmaschinenoptimierung/.
The tested website complies with this requirement.
Each page of a website should have its own page title, which reflects the content of the page itself. This carries many advantages, e.g. page titles are used for bookmarking and are read by search engines. Unique page titles therefore lead to search engine optimisation.
Further information:
http://www.socialpatterns.com/search-engine-optimization/writing-better-titles/
The tested website complies with the requirements.
The content of the website needs to be well structured with logical and meaningful titles (h1, h2, h3...). Meaningful words which are important for the understanding of the text, need to be placed at the beginning of the title, as web users mainly only perceive the first few words of a title. Titles should be no longer than 60 characters.
Titles can also have a positive impact on search machine rankings.
Source and further information:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger.
The website contains well structured and meaningful titles.
Pop-ups tend to annoy web users, as they appear suddenly and cannot be controlled. In addition, many users associate pop-ups with untrustworthy gambling and porn sites. User-friendly websites should therefore not include pop-ups, with the following exception: a print-preview of a page displayed as a pop-up.
Source:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger
Further information:
http://www.usability.ch/Alt_nav/Alertbox/NJ_20041206.htm
Your website does not contain pop-ups.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
"Times New Roman" is the font mostly used in printing. For online usage, however, it is advised to use it with a size of 12 points or more. Basically, Nielsen does not advise to use it, as it is not perceived as being professional and does not appeal to any age group.
Source and further information:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger
No Times New Roman font was found on the tested website.
This page is optimized for ... or "Best viewed with Netscape Navigator and 800x600" reduce unnecessarily the usability of a website and tell the website user to choose the "correct" configuration to allow an optimised display of the website. It is the duty of the website owner (web designer) to create a site so that it remains functional without loosing appeal in as many browsers and browser configurations as possible.
Further information:http://www.htmlhelp.com/feature/art2.htm ""This page optimized for ..." - arguing with customers -" the website Design Group.
No text reading "This page optimized for ..." was found on the tested website.
Links to web files placed on local files do not work, and are therefore classed as 'dead' links. Such links should be avoided.
The tested website complies with the requirements.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
Internet users expect hyperlinks to be either coulour coded or underlined. Therefore, the tag "underline" should not be used for non hyperlinked text. Using the tag "underline" for non hyperlinked text confuses the user, making it more difficult to recognise genuine hyperlinks.
Source and further information:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen and Hora Loranger
http://www.usability.ch/Alt_nav/Alertbox/NJ_20040510.htm
No "underline" tages for non hyperlinked text were found on the tested website.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
Blinking and moving text should be avoided. website users would like to read at their own pace and usually they class moving text as unimportant ads. Static text can be read quicker by users and does force them to wait for returning text. Furthermore, problems may arise when printing the page.
Source and further information: "Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger, as well as hints on http://www.barrierefreies-webdesign.de/
No blinking or moving text was found on the tested website.
HTML is only one of a series of markup languages, though it is the best known one. HTML is relatively old and has seen various, rather different variations. The Document Type Declaration indicates which markup language and which version of it has been used. A sorting software, e.g. a web browser, can understand this indication.
Source and further information: http://de.selfhtml.org/html/allgemein/grundgeruest.htm.
The tested website contains a Document Type Declaration.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
So called "black lists" are kept worldwide to avoid spam. The lists contain domains, e-mail addresses or IP addresses. Incoming e-mails can be treated separately if they are found to relate to one of the criteria listed. This can range from completely deny reception to a delay, from deletion to the marking as spam. Black lists can be kept locally or centrally on servers, in what is called a "Realtime Blackhole List" (RBL).
Currently, the tested Domain is not listed in any on the reviewed black lists.
The titles need to be ordered in a sytematic and logical way, i.e. there can be no jump going from h1 toi h6. In addition, the first title must be h1.
Further information:
http://www.vorsprungdurchwebstandards.de/theory/retro-coding/
(Chapter: "Semantisch strukturiertes HTML" = "Semantically structured HTML)
The title structure of the tested website is correct.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
RSS is a technique that allows users to subscribe to contents of a website such as news, reports, blogs, etc. Atom is a format competing with RSS.
Newly published content is regularly and automatically downloaded on the subscriber's computer or other devices thanks to RSS or Atom. This allows the subscriber to keep up to date.
Functions based on RSS are increasingly integrated in existing applications, like e-mail programmes or web browsers.
Further information:
http://www.stefanbucher.net/tutorial/rss/
Acronyms:
RSS: Really Simple Syndication, also called Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary
Contents in RSS or Atom format were found.
An image map is a graphics file with clickable areas to re-direct users. This means that single areas of the graphics file can be defined in such way that they act like a link in a text. By clicking on the specific area, the users are taken to an external URL or to pre-defined are of the website.
Image maps contain problems, especially when they contain barriers. A solution for barrier-free image maps can be found on http://expertinnen-web.de/2006-115/barrierefreie-image-maps/
Further information: http://de.selfhtml.org/html/grafiken/verweis_sensitive.htm
The tested website complies with the requirements.
Name servers should be placed in different physical locations.
"It is recommended that three servers be provided for most
organisation level zones, with at least one which must be well
removed from the others. For zones where even higher reliability is
required, four, or even five, servers may be desirable. Two, or
occasionally three of five, would be at the local site, with the
others not geographically or topologically close to the site, or each
other."
Source and further information regarding the amount and location of a second name server can be found in RFC2182 3.1.
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2182.html
The tested website complies with this requirement.
Missing height and width size of images is a typical error in HTML, which impacts the performance of the website. A precise definition of height and width allows a quicker download of the website, as the browser recognises the space needed for the image and can leave it empty.
Source and further information: http://de.selfhtml.org/html/grafiken/einbinden.htm#breite_hoehe
All images on the tested website contain a precise description of height and width.
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The tested website successfully passed this test.
Names of links should be short, precise and meaningful. Links such as "more" or the die character sequence ">>" should be avoided, as the user should be specifically told what "more" can be expected.
Source and further information:
"Prioritizing Web Usability" by Jakob Nielsen/Hoa Loranger; there are also good examples on http://de.selfhtml.org/html/verweise/definieren.htm
The tested website complies with the requirements.
Older web projects were often designed with so-called "empty images" (i.e. images without content, used as placeholder). This technique is now outdated and should be replaced with CSS features such as "Padding" and "Margin". This allows an increased performance of the website, as well as a strict separation between design and content, and an abstraction of the design from the structure.
Further information:
http://seybold.jan-andresen.de/05killer.php
No empty images were found on the tested website.