Web Services

Web Services Internal Development Standards

• Introduction
• Basic Standards
• Web Page Design Standards
• Accessibility
• HTML Standards
• Include Files
• Navigation Elements
• Styles
• Coding Standards (HTML/ASP/JavaScript)
• Browser Support
• Site Development Procedures
• Maintaining Sites with Dreamweaver
• Collage Development Standards

Introduction

Everyday, the Web becomes more and more central to the operations of Web Services and CSU, Chico, both as an information sharing and management medium as well as an interactive application environment. In order to make continuing maintenance manageable among several individuals, it is vital that all Web Services Web sites implement and follow a clear set of Web standards. Use of standards retards or halts the site degradation that is the bane of all evolving Web sites.

There are two important advantages to implementing Web standards for Web sites:

1. Standards are logical and consistent and once learned can be equally well implemented by all parties, often with much less effort than before. Formatting decisions, for example, are made by the style sheet, not the page editor, so the editor need not choose fonts, sizes and colors on a Web page.
2. Maintenance becomes much easier and less labor intensive based on centralized and standardized rules rather than page and browser-specific code that must be updated on each page individually.

Switching to standards will mean that not just anyone will be able to create and edit pages on the Web Services sites. Editors will require training in order to insure that they both understand and can implement Web standards. This issue would be obviated by the adoption of a content management system.

The purpose of these documents is to lay out the basic design philosophy behind the standards as well as the details of the standards themselves.