Web site Review Checklist
Process
- The site organization has been tested with users.
- Clients have reviewed the architecture for completeness and appropriateness.
- The site organization has been finalized and documented.
- A site maintenance plan is documented.
- All content has been acquired or planned for.
- Site logs and search logs have been reviewed for possible refinements.
Overall
- The architecture matches overall site requirements.
- The architecture makes sense at a glance.
Coverage
- No relevant content is missing.
- No unnecessary pages can be removed.
- The site has all necessary pieces, e.g.,
- Home
- About/Introduction/Overview
- Contact/Feedback Forms
- Site Map/Site Index/Table of Contents
- Help/Frequently Asked Questions
- Search
- Error Pages
- Privacy Policy/Copyright Policy
Task Analysis
- All important tasks and user types are supported.
- Common tasks flow along a natural and short sequence of pages.
- Important tasks are achievable in one section of the site, or appropriately cross-linked.
Organization
- The site is relatively broad and shallow, no deeper than 3 levels, no broader than
- about 16 options.
- Categories are placed at the right depth. Based on importance, no categories need
- to be promoted or demoted.
- Important options come first.
- Related options are grouped.
- The organization is flexible. Sections can be added and deleted without major
- reorganization.
Categorization
- Categories divide up the space sensibly.
- Each category has comprehensive coverage.
- All topics are in the correct category.
Orientation and Labeling
- Pages are clearly identified and explained, with clear page titles and good descriptions.
- Landmark pages are sufficiently distinct.
- Labels are clear, meaningful, and appropriate to their target content.
- Labels are consistent in specificity, tone, and usage.
- Link labels provide the scent of all subcategories.
- Scope notes are provided when useful.
- Users can gauge their progress through the information.
Links
- The link to the home page is explicitly indicated.
- External links are chosen with restraint, appropriate, and regularly maintained.
- Page links are minimal and clearly labeled.
- There are no dead-end pages—those without any outgoing links.
Navigation Bar
- The navbar indicates where the user is currently located.
- The user can see how the current page is positioned within the whole site.
- The hierarchy is clear. The user can determine which options are at the top level
- versus a sublevel.
- Text navigation is provided for users who are not viewing images.
- Navigation is at the top and the bottom of long pages.
- The user can quickly review all options without scrolling or rolling over the options.
Search
- Users can choose to either browse or search (though search may not be needed on
- small or very well structured sites).
- The scope of the search is clear.
- Search tips are provided, especially after too few or too many results are found.
- Search results indicate the number of matches and the total records or documents.
- Search results are comprehensive, precise, and relevant.
- Search results are ordered usefully.
- Search results provide the context and/or description of each match.
- Search results are categorized when there are a large number of matches.
- The search query is repeated in the results, and users can easily refine searches.
- Common queries produce good results.
- The search is robust with regard to misspellings, alternate spellings, synonyms,
- plurality, and prefixes and suffixes.
Layout
- Simplicity, consistency, and focus.
- Contrast, balance, and repetition.
- Proximity, similarity, and good continuation.
- Critical elements stand out.
- Critical information appears toward top left of the page.
- Works for printing and at a variety of window sizes (e.g., 520 pixel
- maximum width of your design).
- Provides appropriate focal point, emphasis, and hierarchy of information.
Background Image
- Can be compressed to a reasonable size.
- Aligns with the foreground images.
- Will tile appropriately.
Navigation
- Navigation is scalable.
- The most complex page can be developed using this framework.
- Proper page titles and link labels have been used.
Text/Fonts
- The typeface matches the page style.
- The number of typefaces is limited.
- The use of typefaces, weights, and emphasis is limited.
- HTML text is aliased (jaggy) and presented in the expected font.
- Font size is flexible.
- Text links are underlined.
- Text links are different colors for visited and unvisited links.
- Body text, titles, and labels are legible.
Images
- A consistent light source is used.
- The compression of the mockup does not lose too much visual quality.
- The images are used to support the content of the page.
Color
- Color is used appropriately (e.g., for grouping, pop-out effects, and so forth).
- Color is appropriate for dark, light, and grayscale monitor settings.
- Contrast is appropriate for dark, light, and grayscale monitor settings.
Client Requirements
- Required logos, fonts, and colors are included in the mockup.
- Page titles, button labels, and link names are accurate.
- Appropriate identifying images and marks are included.
- The client address is correct.
Code Review Checklist
Pre-Launch Checklist
Typography and layout
- Check for incorrect punctuation marks, particularly apostrophes, quotation marks and hyphens/dashes
- Check for widow/orphan terms in important paragraphs
- Spelling and grammar
- Consistency
- Check for widow/orphan terms in important paragraphs
- Capitalization (especially of main headings)
- Is all the writing in the same tense/style
- Recurring/common phrases (e.g. ‘More about X’ links)
- Is there consistent use of variations in words (e.g. Websites vs. Web Sites, or UK vs. US spelling)
- Treatment of bulleted lists (e.g. periods or commas at end of each item)
- Ensure no test content on site
- Check how important pages (e.g. content items) print
- Check all ‘Hidden Copy’ (e.g. alt text, transcriptions, text in JavaScript functions)
Search Engine Visibility, SEO and Metrics
- Page Titles are important; ensure they make sense and have relevant keywords in them.
- Check for target keyword usage in general content
- Check format (user/search engine friendliness) of URLs
- Set up Analytics, FeedBurner, and any other packages for measuring ongoing success
- Create an XML Sitemap
- Configure Google Webmaster Console and Yahoo! Site Explorer
Functional Testing
- Check all bespoke/complex functionality
- Check search functionality (including relevance of results)
- Check on common variations of browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome etc.), version (6, 7, 2.2, 3.1 etc.) and platform (Windows, OSX, Linux)
- Check on common variations of Screen Resolution
- Test all forms (e.g. contact us, blog comments), including anti-spam features, response emails/text, etc.
- Test without JavaScript, Flash, and other plug-ins
- Check all external links are valid
- Check analytics for problems, popular pages etc. and adjust as necessary
Security Checklist
- Configure backup schedule, and test recovery from backup.
- Protect any sensitive pages (e.g. administration area)
- Use robots.txt where necessary
- Security/Penetration test
- Turn-off verbose error reporting
- Check disk space/capacity
- Set-up email/SMS monitoring/alerts (e.g. for errors, server warnings); consider internal and external monitoring services
- Performance Load test
- Check image optimization
- Check and implement caching where necessary
- Check total page size/download time
- Minify/compress static (JavaScript/HTML/CSS) files
- Optimize your CSS: use short image paths; make full-use ‘cascading’ nature of CSS, etc.
- Check correct database indexing
- Check configuration at every level (Web server, Database, any other software e.g. Content Management System)
- Configure server-based logging/measurement tools (e.g. database/web server logging)
Finishing Touches
- Create custom 404/error pages
- Create a favicon
- Submit to search engines
Just to let you know, this page was last updated Monday, Dec 02 24