Sunday, 7 February 2010

What is normal

I thought originally to test the testsites on several devices like a netbook and a normal computer. In the local computer shop I learned that nowadays a normal size for a netbook is 1024x768 pixels. Hmmm, that is exactly the screen size of the desktop computer at home. Time to figure out which screensize people actual use.

According to www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp most computers are using a screen size of 1024x768 pixels or more. They also state that 1% of the computers have a screen resolution of 800x600.

At browsersize.googlelabs.com they are less optimistic. 30% of the users have a browsersize (that's different than the screensize) that is less than (estimated) 1020x570 pixels.

www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php states that 3.51 of the computers have a screen resolution of 800x600 pixels.

In July 2006 Jacob Nielsen wrote in an alertbox about screen resolution that you should Optimize Web pages for 1024x768, but use a liquid layout that stretches well for any resolution, from 800x600 to 1280x1024.

At Browser News they state that Resolutions vary a great deal. Most users have 1024x768 or higher, but a large minority have less. It is important to note that (a) the display resolution says little about the size of the browser window, and (b) users can normally resize the browser window. Consequently no particular browser window size should be assumed.

I want to repeat that last statement: no particular browser window size should be assumed

However for testing the sites I have to decide what screen sizes I will use to test. Normally I have a 1024x769 monitor and all sites seems to be okay their. I assume that that will also be the case for higher resolutions. I think that I will test the sites in the following resolutions:
  1. 800x600 for the old desktop browsers
  2. 480x800 for modern smartphones like the Nexus One
  3. 320x480 for the popular iPhone
If you can make it there, you can make it everywhere...

A fistfull of dollars

Recently I discovered www.peekstats.com. This site tells you how much your site is worth ...

Okay, lets test the sites:
  1. bol.com $1012275 that is roughly 750.000 euro
  2. funda.nl $667624 that is roughly 500.000 euro
  3. helenahoeve.nl $804 that is roughly 500 euro
  4. nu.nl $3652098 that is roughly 2.500.000 euro
  5. philips.nl $22330 that is roughly 15.000 euro
  6. postbus51.nl $26832 that is roughly 20.000 euro
  7. rabobank.nl $1146882 that is roughly 850.000 euro
  8. vrom.nl $15566 that is roughly 10.000 euro
  9. wehkamp.nl $436480 that is roughly 300.000 euro
  10. wnf.nl $11892 that is roughly 9.000 euro
nu.nl will probably make the most money with their site. They are 5000 times more worth than www.helenahoeve.nl 

I assume that they will have some real budget to optimize their site ;-)

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Browsing with Lynx


Browsing with Lynx
==================
Lynx is a text based browser. Browsing with Lynx gives the following results. Allthough I don't get the layout correct (the characters are too large, or this column is too small).

I don't know how good the results are, because I am not familair with character based browsers like Lynx. The best I can do is to decide that this is a tie for all websites. This test was not a good idea ;-)

Bol.com
-------
                          bol.com, de grootste mediawinkel van Ned.. (p1 of 21)

   #Start pagina Zoeken in deze bol.com website

   Ga naar het hoofdmenu Ga naar het paginamenu

bol.com

   Winkelwagentje

   Geen artikelen - EUR 0,00
   Persoonlijk menu
     * Account
     * Bestelstatus
     * Verlanglijstje

   Inloggen (Nieuw bij bol.com? Meld je aan !)
     * Klantenservice
     * Weblog
     * Bomvol
     * 2ehands
     * Fotoservice
-- press space for next page --
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


funda.nl
--------
                                                              Welkom bij funda

   funda
   funda.nl
   Zoek in 271.472 aangeboden woningen
   funda
   funda in business
   Zoek in 23.938 bedrijfsobjecten
   funda in business
   funda landelijk
   Agrarisch onroerend goed
   funda landelijk
   funda next
   Innovatieve projecten van funda
   funda nieuwbouwprojecten
   Zoek in alle nieuwbouwprojecten
   ® 2000-2010 funda - powered by nvm
   [ ]  Deze pagina niet meer tonen voor funda.nl




(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


helenahoeve.nl
--------------
          Uw vakantie, in Zeeland, op boerderijcamping de Helenahoeve (p1 of 3)

   Negeer navigatie
   Uw vakantie, in Zeeland, op boerderijcamping
   Klein rood, naar rechts kijkend en kukelend, haantje De Helenahoeve
   NL - EN - DE
   Zoek _______________________ Zoek
   Vorige - Inhoudsopgave - Volgende

   Home - Foto's - Recensies - Camping - Voorzieningen - Tarieven -
   Beschikbaarheid - Reserveren - Contact
     _________________________________________________________________


   U kunt al boeken voor de zomer, Zie ook onze speciale aanbiedingen
   voor pasen!!

Boerderijcamping de Helenahoeve

   Gemoedelijk, Overzichtelijk, Kindvriendelijk, Rustig gelegen, Goed
   sanitair

(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


nu.nl
-----
                       nu.nl | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl (p1 of 10)

   REFRESH(300 sec): http://www.nu.nl/
   #NU.nl Algemeen NU.nl Economie NU.nl Internet NU.nl Sport NU.nl
   Achterklap Mobile/PDA

     * Voorpagina
     * Algemeen
     * Economie
     * Sport
     * Tech
     * Achterklap
     * Opmerkelijk
     * Beurs
     * Wetenschap
     * Cultuur
     * Werk&PrivÚ
     * Gezondheid
     * Lifestyle
     * Auto
     * Column
     * NUblog
-- press space for next page --
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


philips.nl
----------
      Philips - Producten en diensten voor consumenten, verlichting.. (p1 of 9)

   This Philips website requires Javascript to be enabled. Currently your
   browser does not support Javascript or has Javascript disabled
   Site Map [0?c23=nl%3Ano_javascript]

Home - Royal Philips

Product zoeken

Beeld en geluid

     * Televisie
     * Home theatre
     * Spelers en recorders
     * Draadloze audioproducten
     * Audioproducten
     * MP3- en mediaspelers
     * Draagbare TV en DVD
     * Digitale fotografie
     * Professionele Flat TV's

-- press space for next page --
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


postbus51.nl
------------
            Postbus 51 - Postbus 51: voor vragen aan de rijksoverheid (p1 of 5)

   Postbus 51 - Rijksoverheid

Postbus 51 - voor vragen aan de rijksoverheid

Zoeken op thema

   Voor vragen aan de rijksoverheidbel 0800-8051
   Direct naar: hoofdnavigatie - zoeken
     * Belastingen, uitkeringen en toeslagen
     * Buitenland: werken, wonen en reizen
     * Consumentenzaken
     * Cultuur, sport en vrije tijd
     * Familie, jeugd en gezin
     * Maatschappij en samenleving
     * Natuur en milieu

     * Onderwijs
     * Overheid en democratie
     * Rechtspraak en veiligheid
     * Verkeer, voertuigen en wegen
-- press space for next page --
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


rabobank.nl
-----------
                                             Rabobank - Particulieren (p1 of 5)

   #home RSS Particulieren RSS Bedrijven RSS Private Banking

   Rabobank logo
     _________________________________________________________________

   Spring naar content gedeelte
     _________________________________________________________________

     * Particulieren
     * Bedrijven
     * Private Banking
     _________________________________________________________________

   Zoeken

   zoek op de site __________________ Zoeken
     _________________________________________________________________

     * Inloggen
     * Klant worden
(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list


vrom.nl
-------
                                                  Ministerie van VROM (p1 of 9)

   #vrom.nl | Nieuwsfeed

                                 {page:title}

   Homepage VROM
     * Home
     * Actueel
     * Onderwerpen
     * Organisatie
     * Doe mee

   zoek ____________________ zoek

   Sitemap
   Minister Jacqueline Cramer Minister Jacqueline Cramer

Ruimte

   23 meer
     * Wet ruimtelijke ordening
(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
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wehkamp.nl
----------
                      wehkamp.nl - hÚt online warenhuis van Nederland (p1 of 5)

   wehkamp.nl mobiel
   Winkelwagentje  0 Items  0.-
   Home
   inloggen
   _________________________________________
   zoek
   Kies een winkel
   [selecteer__________]
   kies
   mega weekend

   Lost - Seizoen 5 (DVD)

Lost - Seizoen 5 (DVD)

   62.99 4185
   meer info

   Boxspring Narvik

(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
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wnf.nl
------
                                                       Home  - WNF.nl (p1 of 7)

   #RSS WNF nieuws RSS WNF vacatures RSS WNF resultaten

   Spring naar content

   WWF For a living planet Wereld Natuur Fonds
     * Mijn WNF
     * Contact
     * Over WNF
     * Zoek ____________________ Submit

     * Home
          + Donateurs
          + Kinderen
          + Jongeren
          + Vrijwilligers
          + Bedrijven
          + Scholen
          + Ambassadeurs
     * Actueel
     * Wat WNF doet
(NORMAL LINK)   Use right-arrow or to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list

$$






Thursday, 4 February 2010

Cynthia Says ... AAA

There is a great tool to test the Accesability Guidelines, it is called Cynthia Says. One of the basic tests is the Section 508 test. The results are:
  1. bol.com Failed Automated Verification
  2. funda.nl Passed Automated Verification
  3. helenahoeve.nl Passed Automated Verification
  4. nu.nl Failed Automated Verification
  5. philips.nl Failed Automated Verification
  6. postbus51.nl Passed Automated Verification
  7. rabobank.nl Passed Automated Verification
  8. vrom.nl Passed Automated Verification
  9. wehkamp.nl Failed Automated Verification
  10. wnf.nl Failed Automated Verification
Five test sites passed the automated verification and five failed for this test.

Ranking the sites, gives this list:
  1. funda.nl, helenahoeve.nl, postbus51.nl, rabobank.nl and vrom.nl
  2. bol.com, nu.nl, philips.nl, wehkamp.nl and wnf.nl
The second test is on the WAI Guidelines. Again Cynthia says...
  1. bol.com Failed Automated Verification
  2. funda.nl Failed Automated Verification
  3. helenahoeve.nl Passed Automated Verification
  4. nu.nl Failed Automated Verification
  5. philips.nl Failed Automated Verification
  6. postbus51.nl Failed Automated Verification
  7. rabobank.nl Failed Automated Verification
  8. vrom.nl Failed Automated Verification
  9. wehkamp.nl Failed Automated Verification
  10. wnf.nl Failed Automated Verification
Flabbergasted again. www.helenahoeve.nl is the only site which passed the automated verification.

The following things could be improved:
  1. 9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects.


    • Rule: 9.4.1 - All Anchor, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, OBJECT, SELECT and TEXTAREA elements are required to use the 'tabindex' attribute.
      • Warning - One or more Anchor, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, OBJECT, SELECT and TEXTAREA elements do not use the 'tabindex' attribute.
  2. 9.5 Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls.


    • Rule: 9.5.1 - All Anchor, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, LABEL, LEGEND, and TEXTAREA elements are required to use the 'accesskey' attribute.


      • Warning - One or more Anchor, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, LABEL, LEGEND, and TEXTAREA elements do not use the 'accesskey' attribute.
Note: These items are mentioned on the Priority 3 Verification Checklist.

The Web Guidelines

Time to test the sites against the Web Guidelines. See http://www.webrichtlijnen.nl/english/test/

The results are:
  1. bol.com Score: 34
  2. funda.nl Score:  39
  3. helenahoeve.nl Score:  42
  4. nu.nl Score: 30
  5. philips.nl Score: 36
  6. postbus51.nl Score: 46
  7. rabobank.nl Score: 39
  8. vrom.nl Score: 44
  9. wehkamp.nl Score: 33
  10. wnf.nl Score: 31
The maximum score is 47. www.helenahoeve.nl will never reach this maximum because:
  1. We give the user the option to open an external link in a new tab. This is not allowed when you use a STRICT doctype. This decision costs us 3 points;
  2. We have grouped images and the corresponding text in a DIV. To do this neatly we have to define the style width=. This decision costs us 2 points.
Ranking the sites based on this score gives the following graph:


Testing the quality of the HTML code

Okay, time for a technical test. I will test the quality of the code with several tools. First the well known W3C Validator.
  1. bol.com 126 errors, 45 warnings
  2. funda.nl 65 errors, 26 warnings
  3. helenahoeve.nl Valid XHTML Transitional
  4. nu.nl 150 errors, 83 warnings
  5. philips.nl 8 errors, 2 warnings
  6. postbus51.nl Valid XHTML Strict
  7. rabobank.nl Valid XHTML Strict
  8. vrom.nl 9 errors, 9 warnings
  9. wehkamp.nl 45 errors
  10. wnf.nl 13 errors, 11 warnings
I am flabbergasted, only 3 sites which validate. I don't believe this. Will Total Validator give the same number of errors? The answer is below ...
  1. bol.com HTML errors: 41
  2. funda.nl HTML errors: 45
  3. helenahoeve.nl HTML errors: 0
  4. nu.nl HTML errors: 200
  5. philips.nl HTML errors: 5
  6. postbus51.nl HTML errors: 2
  7. rabobank.nl HTML errors: 5
  8. vrom.nl HTML errors: 0
  9. wehkamp.nl HTML errors: 5
  10. wnf.nl HTML errors: 17
... and not consequent. There are sometimes more errors (e.g. wnf.nl) and sometimes less errors (e.g. vrom.nl, wehkamp.nl). However one thing is very clear. www.helenahoeve.nl is the only test site with no problems at all.

Searching on the web learns me that less than 5% of the websites are following the standards correctly and validate. See the article MAMA Key findings. I thought that I compared the website of the Helenahoeve with some top sites. Hmmm, they have a lot to improve.

Ranking based on validation:
  1. helenahoeve.nl, postbus51.nl, rabobank.nl
  2. bol.com, funda.nl, nu.nl, philips.nl, vrom.nl, wehkamp.nl and wnf.nl
Ranking based on the number of errors:
  1. helenahoeve.nl, vrom.nl
  2. postbus51.nl, philips.nl, rabobank.nl, wehkamp.nl
  3. wnf.nl
  4. bol.com, funda.nl
  5. nu.nl


Sunday, 31 January 2010

Things to do to improve the User Safety

After the following safety tests I conclude that helenahoeve.nl:
  1. is a save website;
  2. has much less visitors as the other test sites;
  3. is too small for Norton and the Web Of Trust;
  4. is one of the two websites with a great and clear privacy policy;
  5. is one of the two websites with clear contact information.
I think that I should ask people via the website to rate the Helenahoeve at www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/www.helenahoeve.nl

See the following tests for more details:
  1. Google Save Browsing
  2. Second Safety Test - McAfee SiteAdvisor
  3. Third Safety Test - Norton Safe Web
  4. Web Of Trust
  5. Privacy Test
  6. Contact options