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Guide to good practices for WWW authors


Summary of guidelines for good practice

Consider the needs and facilities of your users.

Take into account the cost of maintaining WWW data.


The normal format is HTML, the native language of the Web.

A 'Doctype' declaration is recommended for SGML conformance.

Consider whether HTML meets the requirements of your user group.

For maximum portability and usability, use standard HTML.

Validate your HTML markup.

Make sure your documents are usable on a range of browsers.

Do not use non-standard extensions in documents intended for general readership.

Use the Doctype declaration to declare the type of HTML used.

Provide alternative options to non-standard elements.

Use the paragraph tag to enclose paragraphs, not to create space.

Use heading levels in their natural order, starting with Heading Level 1 at the top of the document, and proceeding one step at a time from one level down to the next.

Do not use multiple DD tags with one DT tag.

Avoid overlapping tags.

Do not embed structural tags in other elements such as lists or anchors.

Using relative URLs in anchors facilitates moving collections of data.

Cite URLs for directory entries correctly.


Use a standard classification scheme.

Give a consistent appearance to a collection of documents.

Use a template as a starting point for composing documents.

Provide flexibility.

Provide navigational aids at all times.


Always give a concise, meaningful title in the HEAD part of the document.

Limit pages to a manageable size.

Use links to enrich your document, but let it speak for itself too.

Don't use Click here for links.

Supply contextual information about links.

Make regular checks of the links in your documents.

Use graphics effectively to enhance your information.

Minimise the size of graphics files and Do not include large graphics files as inline images.

Let the user choose whether or not to view large graphics files.

Test graphics on different monitors.

Always provide an alternative to images.

Provide a text alternative to hyperlinked graphics.

Re-use images in preference to using new ones.


Check documents on a regular basis.

Make use of Meta fields to facilitate regular checking.

Provide author or publisher information in your documents.

Test scripts for effective functioning.


Do not say anything to harm the reputation of others.

Copyright does apply to WWW pages.

The default is that copyright belongs to the author/publisher.

Obtain consent if you want to use others material.

Your Web pages are your property (or your institution s) unless you give them away.

Obscene and pornographic material is likely to be unacceptable legally and institutionally, as well as offensive to the average Web user.

Obtain permission before including personal information or a photograph.

Be aware that personal information is protected by legislation.


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MMI
February 1996

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