Web Development Standards

Internet Explorer 11.x, Edge.x

Firefox (latest and 3 previous versions)

Safari (latest and 3 previous versions OSX)

Chrome (latest and 3 previous versions)

All the file names should be in lowercase letters, be meaningful, consist of alphanumeric characters, with the correct file extensions

The name should not exceed sixty characters.

Where possible the file name should be kept simple and be one word only.

Where more than one word is required, the file name should not have spaces but separated by a dash (-). The use of underscores (_) and camel case is discouraged as they are difficult to detect once the name becomes a URL

Adobe Acrobat PDF files, word files, PowerPoint files linked to from a web page should open in a new window and not exceed 5MB

Any image used on the website should not exceed the 80KB size limit

The combined size of the source of each page should not exceed 150KB. However exceptions to this could include pages using a Photo Gallery, Media Gallery or Google Map functionality

All folder names should be in lowercase letters and separate folders should be maintained for each element of the website. For example .docs or images.

Every folder should consist of a default document.

The name should not exceed twenty-five characters.

Where possible the folder name should be kept simple, consist of alphanumeric characters, and be one word only. Where more than one word is required, the file name should not have spaces but separated by a dash (-). The use of underscores (_) and camel case is discouraged as they are difficult to detect once the name become a URL.

Images need to be optimized (using a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop) for use on the web. There are three standard file types used on the Internet:

· JPEG - used for standard photograph format.

· GIF - images with a smaller number of colours. Not be used for larger images or standard photograph format.

· PNG 8bit (256 colours) and 24bit (16m colours) – images of any size with a smaller number of colours. 24bit is best for images with gradient or transparency. Not to be used for standard photograph format.

Please refer to the File sizes section in this document.

Avoid images to represent text – use text and style sheets. Please refer to the Imagery and Alternative text sections in the web guidelines

Text should be in paragraph tags.

Use a base size font across the whole website for consistency.

Lists should be marked up as <ol> or <ul>.

Elements like <blockquote> should only be used for block quotes, not for generating indented text.

HTML structural elements, such as H1 to H6, OL, and UL, should form a logical hierarchy and denote document structure, rather than custom styles. Visitors using non-visual browsers or browsers that ignore style sheets are therefore not disadvantaged.

iOS 8, 9.x all Apple compatible devices

Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 - Marshmellow 6.x

Show the PDF version used.

If publishing in version 8 or greater, it should adhere to the Acrobat Accessibility

Screen resolution

(in pixels)

768 x 1024

1280 x 800

1680 x 1050

1366 x 768

1280 x 1024

1440 x 900

920 x 1080

920 x 1200

For exchange of personal information between the website visitor and the environment hosting the University website(s), for example credit card details when making online payments or registering for an event, the hosting environment must as a minimum:

· Encrypt the transfer of personal information using Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 or above

· Use the University of Auckland’s certificate issuing provider (AusCERT) wherever possible. Where this is not possible, use certificates that have a trust chain that is available in commonly used browsers

· Not use self-signed SSL certificates

Use a University of Auckland domain name wherever possible. This helps provide end-users a level of assurance that the website is legitimate

Use W3C technologies when they are available, supported and appropriate for that task and is endorsed by the W3C for general use.

Two key W3C technologies are the use of HTML and Style Sheets.

Information or services in web pages or applications should be available without scripts, applets and other programmatic objects. This includes Java and JavaScript.

The following structure applies depending on the relationship of the site to a faculty or service division:

www.<facultyname>.auckland.ac.nz – distinct sites with their own identity

www.<facultyname>.auckland.ac.nz/<something> or www.<something>.<facultyname>.auckland.ac.nz – department, subsection or application of an existing site

(friendly or short URL for marketing or reference purposes)

As the preferred domain name structure for departments can differ from faculty to faculty, it is recommended that a department domain name successfully resolves for structures two and three above.

Compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA

WCAG 2.0 is based on four principles; perceivable, operable, understandable, robust (see web guidelines for detail)

Documents, including any web page and/or form, must be checked against published formal grammar

JPEG, GIF or PNG files for images

XHTML 1.1 - Strict or Transitional should be used and web coding should meet W3C XHTML validated standards as close as possible.

HTML5 should meet the W3C specifications in HTML5 and XHTML5

CSS2.1 – CSS code should meet W3C CSS validation validated standards as close as possible. To meet these standards the code should validate with no errors, although some “warnings” could be acceptable

RSS 2.0

UTF-8 character encoding - this is to help ensure consistency of data across government and to best enable multilingual support