Background Information

  • URL:
  • Target Audience:
  • Purpose:

Page Layout

  1. ❏    Appealing to target audience
  2. ❏    Consistent site header/logo
  3. ❏    Consistent navigation area
  4. ❏    Informative page title that includes the company/organization/site name
  5. ❏    Page footer area includes copyright, last update, contact e-mail address
  6. ❏    Good use of basic design principles: repetition, contrast, proximity, and alignment
  7. ❏    Displays without horizontal scrolling at 1024×768 and higher resolutions
  8. ❏    Balance of text/graphics/white space on page
  9. ❏    Good contrast between text and background
  10. ❏    Header and nav occupy less than ¼ to ⅓ of the browser at 1024×768 resolution
  11. ❏    Home page has compelling, interesting information above the fold at 1024×768
  12. ❏    Home page downloads within ten seconds on dial-up connection
  13. ❏    Viewport meta tag is used to enhance display on smartphones
  14. ❏    Media queries configure responsive page layout for smartphone and tablet display

Browser Compatibility

  1. ❏   Displays on popular/current versions of Internet Explorer
  2. ❏   Displays on popular/current versions of Microsoft Edge
  3. ❏   Displays on current versions of Firefox
  4. ❏   Displays on current versions of Google Chrome
  5. ❏   Displays on current versions of Opera
  6. ❏   Displays on current versions of Safari (both Mac and Windows)
  7. ❏   Displays on popular mobile devices (including tablets and smartphones)

Navigation

  1. ❏   Main navigation links are clearly and consistently labeled
  2. ❏   Navigation is easy to use for target audience
  3. ❏   If main navigation uses images, clear text links are in the footer section of the page
  4. ❏   If main navigation uses Flash, clear text links are in the footer section of the page
  5. ❏   Navigation is structured in an unordered list
  6. ❏   Navigation aids, such as site map, skip navigation link, or breadcrumbs are used
  7. ❏   All navigation hyperlinks “work” — are not broken

Color and Graphics

  1. ❏   Color scheme is limited to a maximum of three or four colors plus neutrals
  2. ❏   Color is used consistently
  3. ❏   Text color has sufficient contrast with background color
  4. ❏   Color is not used alone to convey meaning
  5. ❏   Use of color and graphics enhances rather than distracts from the site
  6. ❏   Graphics are optimized and do not significantly slow download
  7. ❏   Each graphic used serves a clear purpose
  8. ❏   Image tags use the alt attribute to configure an alternate text description
  9. ❏   Animated images do not distract from the site and do not endlessly repeat

Multimedia

  1. ❏   Each audio/video/Flash file used serves a clear purpose
  2. ❏   The audio/video/Flash files used enhance rather than distract from the site
  3. ❏   Captions are provided for each audio or video file used
  4. ❏   Download times for audio or video files are indicated
  5. ❏   Links to downloads for media plug-ins are provided

Content Presentation

  1. ❏   Common fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman are used
  2. ❏   No more than one web font is used
  3. ❏   Techniques of writing for the Web are used: headings, bullet points, brief paragraphs
  4. ❏   Fonts, font sizes, and font colors are consistently used
  5. ❏   Content provides meaningful, useful information
  6. ❏   Content is organized in a consistent manner
  7. ❏   Information is easy to find (minimal clicks)
  8. ❏   Timeliness: The date of the last revision and/or copyright date is accurate
  9. ❏   Content does not include outdated material
  10. ❏   Content is free of typographical and grammatical errors
  11. ❏   Content provides links to other useful sites
  12. ❏   Avoids the use of “Click here” when writing text for hyperlinks
  13. ❏   Hyperlinks use a consistent set of colors to indicate visited/nonvisited status
  14. ❏   If graphics are used to convey meaning, the alternate text equivalent is provided
  15. ❏   If media is used to convey meaning, the alternate text equivalent is provided

Functionality

  1. ❏   All internal hyperlinks work
  2. ❏   All external hyperlinks work
  3. ❏   All forms function as expected
  4. ❏   No JavaScript errors are generated

Accessibility

  1. ❏   If main navigation uses images, text links are in the footer section of the page
  2. ❏   If main navigation uses Flash, text links are in the footer section of the page
  3. ❏   Navigation is structured in an unordered list
  4. ❏   Navigation aids, such as site map, skip navigation link, or breadcrumbs are used
  5. ❏   Color is not used alone to convey meaning
  6. ❏   Text color has sufficient contrast with background color
  7. ❏   Image elements use the alt attribute to configure an alternate text description
  8. ❏   If graphics are used to convey meaning, the alternate text equivalent is provided
  9. ❏   If media is used to convey meaning, the alternate text equivalent is provided
  10. ❏   Captions are provided for each audio or video file used
  11. ❏   Use attributes designed to improve accessibility such as title when appropriate
  12. ❏   Use the id and headers attributes to improve the accessibility of table data
  13. ❏   Configure frames with frame titles and place meaningful content in the noframes area
  14. ❏   The html element’s lang attribute indicates the spoken language of the page