san diego website and design resources intro

prelaunch quality assurance checklist

web design launch readiness cross checks & authorization processes

FINAL DESIGN READINESS | PRELAUNCH PROOF SHEET

Let's get right to the point: Our work is custom, therefore impossible to create a "one size fits all" prelaunch checklist.

The items below may or may not apply to your project specifically, and it is likely many additional elements will require proofing and QA assurance prior to launch readiness.

Red is for Readiness...LET'S GO! :)

visual presentation

layout & organization

colors & typography

menus & hyperlinks

content & formatting

editorial & grammatical

xhtml & css validation

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

STYLE • QUALITY • PROFESSIONALISM • WORKMANSHIP

visual presentation

presentation style is consistently branded across all pages
design theme is appropriately suited for nature & purpose of site
site illustrates professionalism
site is demonstrative of superior workmanship
site embodies design integrity
overall high quality
client concurs "best in class" presence

TEXTUAL CONSISTENCY • DELIBERATE CONTINUITY

theme & contrast

logo featured at top left corner of each webpage
logo links to home page
uniform color coding and styles
obvious constrast and discernable hyperlinks
consistent headings hierarchically proportionate in size
functions & features are predictable &/or explanatory

LOGICAL ORGANIZATION BY CATEGORIES & SUBCATEGORIES

layout & structure

logical organization | categorization | subtopical menus
table-free | frame free

FONTS • CAPITALIZATION • COLOR • CONTRAST • PUNCTUATION

colors & typography

font implementation & variants are harmonious and compatible
header font sizes decrease in hierarchic proportion of importance
bold and strong styling emphasize important words & phrases
consistent capitalization, hyphenation & punctuation style
sufficient contrast between font colors and background colors

TOOLTIPS • VALIDATION • CONTEXTUAL UNDERLINE • STATES

navigational menus & links

text links within content contain descriptive title tags on mouse hover
navigation menus do not directly open external links or downloads
all internal & external links have been tested and verified
text links within content denoted by underlining and distinctive coloring
text link states identified by hover, visited, and active styling
visited links embedded in content are colored purple
navigation sections contain groups of 7 or fewer menu items
onger pages are equipped with "back to top" links or buttons
a link to an xhtml sitemap or diagram is available from every page

PRESENTATION • WHITE SPACE • DESCRIPTIVE HEADINGS • LISTS

content & formatting

limit of one concept or idea expressed per paragraph
descriptive paragraph titles styled consistently
itemization, bulleted lists & white space break up large data chunks
content is easy to scan and decipher
all content is unique and non-duplicitous of other websites
all site content is current and accurate

SPELLING • GRAMMAR • WRITING STYLE • VOCABULARY

editorial & grammatical

spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct and consistent in style
consistent use of second or third person writing style
ideas & concepts expressed using fewest possible words
initial use of acronyms define abbreviated phrase, term, or name

BRANDING • IDENTITY • ICONIC SYMBOLS • CONTACT INFO

branding & identity

website logo featured at top left corner of each webpage and links to home page
accurate address and contact info static on each page in text format
impactful & appropriate use of branding slogans, mottos, and taglines
color scheme and style congruent with existing branded marketing collateral

ALT TAGS • IMAGE QUALITY • RELEVANT GRAPHICS • PHOTOGRAPHY

graphics & icons

descriptive alt tags provided for original images & icons
hyperlinked images contain title tags describing link location & action type
complex charts & graphs are described with alt tags or text reference
all images & photographs are of high grade professional quality
all images & photographs are proportionate, relevant, and enhancing
all images download efficiently within recommended speed time frames
all images used are unrestricted & free of copyright infringement

MEDIA • PODCASTS • VIDEOS • WEBINARS • MP3S

video & audio

video, flash & audio files include links for required plug-in downloads
video files & frames are supplemented by synchronized captions
flash websites offer html version of site, if applicable
flash splash page offers a "skip intro" option, if applicable
videos, music, and multimedia play on demand only
popup media modules include a "close window" option

FIXED WIDTH • LIQUID WIDTH • GECKO • WEBKIT

browsers & screen sizes

website renders gracefully in IE, Firefox & targeted demographic browsers
website is viewable without right-scrolling in 1024 and larger screen size resolutions
site appears consistent across windows, linux, and mac operating systems
browser reflects unique & relevant titles for each page of website

SITE SPEED • FUNCTIONALITY • PERFORMANCE

speed & automation

website downloads within 15 seconds on the slowest dial up connection
electronic inquiry forms resolve successfully and render a thank you page
quick contact form requires essential user input fields for submission
form submittal delivery routes to proper email addresses
electronic submissions are delivered in proper format

W3 WEB STANDARD VALIDATION • 508 ACCESSIBLE

validation & accessibility

home page xhtml validates per w3c.org compliance standards
home page css validates per w3c.org web accessibility standards

PDF • ZIP • WAV • TAR • PPT • MPG4

downloads & plug-ins

proprietary file types include a link to required reader or player plug-in download
powerpoint & pdf files are also provided in alternative html format
non html file types are identified by proprietary logo icons such as .doc & adobe

404 ERROR PAGES • .HTACCESS • ROBOTS.TXT • SITEMAP.XML • 301 • 302

server side includes

404 custom error page implemented to substitute for invalid requests
.htaccess, 301 or 302 redirects, manage traffic for moved, renamed, or deleted pages
robots.txt file created to allow and disallow indexing by specified user agents
creation and upload of xml sitemap to server and google webmaster tools