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QA Checklist for In-Template Sites

This is the Quality Assurance (QA) Checklist for all sites that are in the EERE template, but are not hosted in the content management system. See the QA Checklists for other types of EERE Web sites on the QA Checklist page.

Section 508 Requirements All tables must be coded to be 508 compliant. Forms must be coded to be 508 compliant. Scripting on the site must be 508 compliant. Graphics and image maps must have alt text. Only client-side image maps are used. Graphics must include sufficient contrast to meet 508 standards. Graphics should not flash in the range of 4 to 59 flashes per second. Multimedia must meet the requirements in the Multimedia QA Checklist. PDFs must either use native document tagging or the "Make Accessible" plug-in in Adobe Acrobat. Scanned PDFs have an HTML alternative. Information conveyed with color must be available without color. Links to PDFs must follow the EERE PDF linking standards. Optimize PowerPoint files for Accessibility. Pages are still understandable with the style sheet turned off. Include a way to skip repetitive navigation. Web Content Standards All sites must be spell checked. When linking off-site, you must tell your readers where the link goes. You must have written authorization from the copyright holder to display any content on your site that was not produced by the federal government. All Web sites must have a "Contacts" page. All webmasters must retain all e-mail inquiries for 3 years. All sites must have a "webmaster" link in the footer. All sites must link to the EERE Privacy Policy from the footer. All sites must use the EERE-approved common navigation structure. All pages must have intro text. All blogs must follow the EERE's requirements for blogs. Web Technical Standards All sites must be in the EERE Template unless otherwise authorized. All sites must work on a 1024 x 768 monitor resolution. All sites must work on all of the browsers in the EERE Testing Suite. All links on the site work. The site cannot use persistent cookies unless otherwise approved. JavaScript includes and metadata for statistics must be included on each page. HTML syntax must follow HTML 4.01 Transitional Standards or higher. Special characters must be encoded using character entity references. All HTML document syntax must be validated by the W3C's validator. File names must clearly describe the file's content. File names cannot contain uppercase letters, spaces, or special characters. Static HTML file names must end in .html. Subdirectories must be used for major subsites. Native Files must be linked to as per the EERE linking standards. Native files should be kept in a /docs/ directory. If news, events, features, publications, or images are coded before the main content begins, a stopindex is placed around it. All navigation that come before content, such as features and search boxes, must be surrounded by "Stopindex" Tags. All PDFs must have metadata. PDFs that are more than one page in length must include thumbnails. The "open view" of all PDFs should be set up as described on the PDFs page. PDFs must be compatible with Adobe 8 or lower. Title tags are coded properly. PDFs should live in a "/pdfs/" directory. Links should be coded appropriately within and between sites. Linked H2s must include a graphical arrow. Graphics should follow the EERE Web Graphic Style. Graphics must use approved fonts and font sizes. Graphics must be located in the "images" directory. Graphics in the center must be no wider than 535 pixels for 3 column layouts, or 695 pixels for 2 column layouts in the Program or Subsite Templates. Graphics must be less than 546 pixels in Office Template sites. Features are 249 pixels wide. Web Applications must follow all of the Web application requirements. Electronic newsletters must follow the standards for electronic newsletters. Template Elements The following standards are all based on the requirements explained on the EERE Templates pages. EERE style sheet is used. EERE header, including the tag line, is included and links to DOE and EERE home pages on all pages.   On sub pages, the program/office header links back to that site's home page.   A program photo is included on the program home page but not on lower level pages.   Program navigation on program sites is used correctly. "Off" states are blue background with white letters, "on" state is green background with blue letters. Second-level pages include a "Home" button.   Subsite headers include a photo and red text and on second-level pages links back to subsite home.   Sites are either fixed width 1024px or are grandfathered in using liquid design. Liquid designs must view properly at 1024x768 resolutions. Search code is properly installed, is sized correctly in all browsers and includes a properly associated text label.   "Search Help" and "More Search Options" links are included below the search box and are appropriately formatted and linked.   Left navigation links and uses on and off states correctly.   If left navigation is not used on on second-level program pages, an empty column is shown.   Horizontal gray lines separate the top level categories in the left navigation. A vertical gray line borders the right side of the left navigation and touches the subsite or office header above.   If secondary left navigation is used, it is in the approved format of Quick Links or the blue feature button.   All subsite and office second-level pages have a "Subsite/Office Home" button at the top of the left navigation.   Right navigation only includes approved topics.   Graphical headers in the right navigation are in the correct format and do not link. News, events, and other headlines are in the correct format. "More" links are in the correct format. Publications if used are in the correct format. Features are the full width of the column. Gray lines separate each topic area and a gray line borders the left side of all right navigation. A horizontal gray line borders the bottom of the right navigation unless there is a feature. Elements that should not be indexed by the EERE search engine, such as navigation and search and site utilities are surrounded by "stopindex" tags. All pages have a link to a printable version at the top and bottom of the content that work correctly and includes an H1 title for the page.   The printable version includes the program/office site name and subsite name if appropriate.   Footer is correct and links properly on both home and second-level pages. On second-level pages, the footer includes a link back to the program or office home.   Footer contains JavaScript include for counting PDFs for statistics.   Header or footer contains JavaScript include for counting HTML files for stats. Head contains appropriate meta tags for statistics. Special Template Pages The "More Search Options" page is formatted correctly and includes searches for the program/office site and EERE. The "more search options" meta tag is included on the page. The link for "More Search Options" is on and not linked. The main "News" page does not include right navigation for news. The main "Events" page does not include right navigation for Events. Program section pages such as "About" and "Deployment" have green graphical headers. The green graphical header should not be linked except on subpages in that section. On subsection pages, the green header should link back to the section home page. On the section home page, the green header should not be repeated in an H1, except on the printable version. On section home pages, if there is left navigation, it should only show one level. If there is no left navigation, it should be an empty column. On subsite pages, the corresponding top navigation menu choice should be on and linked. If "Date Last Updated" or similar is used, date is correct. Directories and Files All extraneous, non-linked files have been deleted. Superseded but still important files have been archived.