WEBVTT

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In Unit 6 of this course

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you are introduced to the concept
of quality control.

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Quality control is a process that applies
to all sorts of goods and services.

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Whenever a product is produced
or service is provided,

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it is important for the product or service
to be of good quality.

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This concept applies to websites
just as it applies to other products.

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Quality control can involve very detailed
and sophisticated analyses

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of the process by which
websites are produced,

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but it can also be
a relatively simple process

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of simply testing the quality
of the website you've created.

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In this unit you'll be testing web pages using
automated tools called validators

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that check web pages for coding errors.

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The W3C provides validators for several
markup languages, including HTML...

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and CSS.

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These validators are easy to use, and
provide three ways to test a web page.

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You can enter the URL or web address
of the page you want to check...

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Or if you want to check a private web page that
doesn't have a public web address...

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you can upload your HTML or CSS file...

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Or you can copy and paste your code
directly into the validator form.

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The hard part about using a validator is
understanding the error messages it gives you.

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A typical error message in the HTML validator

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includes the line number where the error occurs,
and a description of the error.

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In this case, we have an image on our web page
but forgot to include an alt attribute.

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Often if you can fix the first error...

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that has a cascading effect and the other errors
down the line will no longer be flagged as errors.

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So a good strategy is to fix one error
at a time, then revalidate.

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Understanding these validators
gets easier with practice.

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Validating your HTML and your CSS is important
because doing so helps to increase the likelihood

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that your page will display consistently
across all browsers and platforms.

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It's also important to check your site
for accessibility.

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There are a variety of free accessibility checkers
available, including WAVE...

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FAE, and many more.

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Some accessibility issues
can be automatically detected.

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In this example, FAE reports that eight image
elements don't have an ALT attribute...

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Some accessibility issues cannot be
automatically detected.

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For example, just because you've provided
alternate text for your images

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doesn't mean you've provided good alt text.

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For issues that require human judgment...

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accessibility checkers will simply provide a warning
that prompts you to double-check those issues manually

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to be sure you have them right.

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While it's important to ensure your website has
valid code and complies with accessibility standards,

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a site that passes all these tests
can still be poorly designed.

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Another aspect of quality control is asking
questions like:

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Can users easily find what they're looking for on
the site?

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Can they use the site for its intended purpose?

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To answers these sorts of questions

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there's no substitute for observing actual users
as they interact with your website.

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This is called usability testing

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and this unit includes an opportunity for you
to experience that process and learn how it's done.