QA Checklist

Template Elements

		Title tags are in EERE style and are approved for site.
		EERE style sheet is used.
		Anchor links are used to skip repetitive navigation links in header and left navigation.
		EERE header, including the tag line, is included and links to DOE and EERE home pages on all pages.
		Blue line illustration, if appropriate, and the green program/office header are used correctly.
		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.
		A link to "EERE Information Center" is required in the site utilities. Site Map and Subject Index are optional. All must be formatted properly and in the correct order.
		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

		Separate subdirectories are used for major subsites or content categories linked from the main site
		Static HTML file names end in .html or .shtml, but not .htm
		All extraneous, non-linked files have been deleted
		Superseded, but important files, have been archived
		All images are stored in a subdirectory named images
		All PDFs are stored and referenced from a sub-directory labeled "pdfs"
		Native file format documents are placed in a separate directory such as a "docs" directory

Page by Page QA

		File names do not contain upper case letters, spaces, or special characters (e.g., & or $)
		File names clearly denote their content and do not use the DOS 8-and-3 naming convention
		A spell check is conducted on every page
		If a graphic element is coded before the main content begins, a stopindex is placed around it
		Internal links are coded relatively
		If used, "Back to Top" anchor links use the correct style and verbiage.
		Only client-side (rather than server-side) image maps are used
		Alt descriptions are used with all client side image maps
		Each page has a meaningful and unique <title> tag and uses EERE style
		Information conveyed with color is also available without color and foreground and background colors provide sufficient contrast
		All links work
		Printable versions work correctly
		Graphics have meaningful "alt" tags (use empty alt tags for spacer gifs and other unimportant graphics)
		References to PDFs within the HTML document use the correct format and link scheme
		Every page with a PDF link must also include a link to Adobe's accessible download page: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
		References to native files within the HTML document use the correct format and link scheme
		Pages are still understandable with a style sheet turned off
		Row and column headings are provided for all data tables
		Page fits in 1024x768 resolution
		HTML syntax follows HTML 4.01 transitional standards and has been validated by the W3C validator

Forms/Scripts/Applets/Dynamic Pages

		Forms include text labels that correspond with form controls and markup to associate the two
		Every script works correctly on the standard browser set
		Content produced by scripting languages is accessible or has an accessible alternative
		Pages requiring an applet or plug-in must provide a link to an accessible page where they can be downloaded
		If a timed response is required, the user can request more time to complete an operation
		Persistent cookies are not used without permission from EERE Headquarters
		Back button functionality is not impaired
		Applications are scanned with Watchfire Appscan and any security issues have been fixed.

Multimedia

See the Multimedia QA Checklist for checking all multimedia applications including Flash and QuickTime.

PDFs

		PDFs open to correct view
		PDFs incorporate appropriate subject and title meta data
		Scanned PDFs have an HTML alternative

Search Optimization QA

		All search code is obtained from NREL
		Search code is properly installed, is sized correctly in all browsers and includes a properly associated text label
		Each page has a meaningful and unique <title> tag and uses EERE style
		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.

Meta tags

		Syntax is correct on meta descriptions and/or meta keywords
		Meta tags represent the content of the page they are on

Comments

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