DE Web Standards and Guidelines

Requirements

• All logos must be approved according to memo from KSC Center Director.
  • No parts of the NASA Meatball can be used such as the "swoosh"
  • The NASA emblem (such as on our badges) is NEVER to be used
  • No modification of the meatball is to be used such as embossing, etc.
  • Icons, etc., should not be made smaller than 5/8".
• No sensitive data will be served from the NASA DE web server without appropriate security measures implemented and verified.
• No endorsement of vendors or products either official or implied shall be on Web Pages.
• No personal, non-work related information will be presented on the DE web site nor linked to from the DE Web Site
• All curators who will be responsible for maintaining the data of the DE web server, needs to have a Web Access form on file with the DE Webmaster.
• Each home page must contain the following information:
  • A meaningful <title>
  • All pages must reference the page author, curator and responsible NASA Official.
    NOTE: There are template HTML files available. signature.html is used when the author and curator or different people. signature2.html is used when the author is also the curator.
  • Date last modified
• Web page devlopers may not incorporate copyright material in their pages unless first obtaining permission to use that material from its owner and then displaying the appropriate copyright credits next to the material.

Recommendations

• Use the ADDRESS tag for the author, curator, and similar footer information on each page
• For ease of navigation, each web page must contain a link to its parent page.
• Keep data presented up-to-date and current. Do not use relative terms such as "yesterday", "today" "tomorrow", etc.
• Use internationally unambiguous formats for displaying dates.
• Highly recommended features for home pages
  • A link to the top level page in your area, to DE Home Page, KSC Home Page
  • Include META information such as keywords, descriptions, rev.
• Don't use heading tags (<H4>, <H2>) to force formatting changes. Use them only as Headings and Sub-Headings of sections
• Use the structure markup (<code>, <cite>, <strong>,…) vs. Bold and Italic whenever possible. The bold tag is used more for implying "This is important".
• Use meaningful link names vs. "Click here"
• Always provide an ALT attribute for images for those who access the page via a text browser and slow link. If the image is a bullet, possibly ALT="-" or ALT="" if the image isn't important.
• Use Height and Width tags on Images to load faster and not repaint the screen.
• Scan at 72 dpi for inline graphics, reduce colors to get the file size reduced.
• Use a background that does not force you to change foreground text and link color defaults. Make it readable.
• For readability, black text on light colored background is preferred. Use color to denote something such as NEW or similar.
• Be careful when linking to information outside of DE or NASA. Include a disclaimer so that the user knows they are leaving the DE Web Site.
• Keep to the HTML Standard (2.0 or 3.2), but do not use any Netscape or Internet Explorer or other product specific enhancements.
• Keep average document size less than 78K.
• The use of blinking text or animated graphics is discouraged because many users find it very distracting when they are trying to read other text on the page.
• Never force a large include media file such as graphic, audio, video (>100K) on a user. Provide a thumbnail/hyperlink to the graphic with an indication how large the file is to be downloaded.
• Always provide size and transfer time estimates for an external media file.
• Give an options to view a low-bandwidth version of high-media documents
• Use compression techniques wherever applicable to reduce file sizes for transfer
• Keep inline images to no more than 256 colors..
• Never put icons liked "Enhanced for Netscape" or "Works best with Internet Explorer"
• Don't require the user to resize their page to view the document
• Do not require that the user must be able to support frames, graphics, audio and so on. They can be useful, but provide alternatives whenever possible.

Notes

• Frames are not included as part of the HTML 3.2 Reference Specification.
• If you must have files larger than 100k, it may help the Webmaster to know of them and to know their relevance -- especially the estimated percentage of users who will access the file. (This helps to access resource requirements)

Useful Links

• Engineering Development Directorate WWW Policy
• KSC Webmasters Page
  • KSC and the WWW presented by Jim Dumoulin
  • Writing Good HTML presented by Jim Dumoulin
  • Computer Security and the WWW presented by Jim Dumoulin