This
handbook provides advice and support for projects funded by JISC’s digital
library programmes. The handbook provides advice for projects in their choice
of standards, best practices and implementation architectures. The handbook
provides a quality assurance methodology which will help to ensure that
projects funded by JISC’s digital library programmes are interoperable and
widely accessible.
This
handbook addresses the issue of quality assurance.
Authors QA Focus
team at UKOLN and AHDS
Publication date: 16 August
2004
Version: 1.0Background
Welcome to QA Focus’s “About Quality Assurance” Handbook. This handbook has been published
by the JISC-funded QA Focus project. The handbook provides advice on the
quality assurance framework which has been developed by QA Focus.
About QA Focus
QA Focus has funded by the JISC to help
develop quality assurance methodology which projects funded by JISC’s digital
library programmes should seek to implement in order to ensure that project
deliverables comply with appropriate standards and best practices which. This
will help to ensure that project deliverables and widely accessible and
interoperable and to facilitate the deployment of deliverables into a service
environment.
The approach taken by QA Focus has been developmental: rather than seeking to
impose requirements on projects, which are being undertaken by many
institutions across the country, with differing backgrounds and levels of
funding and resources, we have sought to raise an awareness of JISC’s
commitment to use of open standards, to describe various technical frameworks
which can help in deploying open standards and to outline ways of ensuring that
selected standards and used in a compliance fashion.
We do, however, recognise the difficulties
which projects may experience in implementing open standards (such as, for
example, the immaturity of standards or the poor support for standards by tool
vendors; the resource implications in implementing some of the standards;
etc.). We have sought to address such concerns by developing a matrix framework
to assist in the selection of standards which are appropriate for use by
standards, in the light of available funding, available expertise, maturity of
standard, etc.
We hope that the wide range of advice
provided in this handbook will be valuable to projects. However the most
important aspect of this handbook is the quality assurance QA methodology which
is outlined in the handbook. The QA methodology has been developed with an
awareness of the constraints faced by projects. We have sought to develop a
light-weight QA methodology which can be easily implemented and which should
provide immediate benefits to projects during the development of their
deliverables as well as ensuring interoperability and ease of deployment into
service which will help to ensure the maximum effectiveness of JISC’s overall
digital library development work.
Scope Of QA Focus
QA Focus seeks to ensure technical
interoperability and maximum accessibility of project deliverables. QA Focus
therefore has a focus on the technical aspects of project’s work.
Our remit covers the following technical
aspects:
Digitisation: The
digitisation of resources, including text, image, moving image and sound
resources.
Access: Access to
resources, with particular references to access using the Web.
Metadata: The use of
metadata, such as resource discovery metadata.
Software development: The
development and deployment of software applications.
Service deployment:
Deployment of project deliverables into a service environment.
In addition to these core technical areas
we also address:
Standards: The selection
and deployment of standards for use by projects.
Quality assurance: The
development of quality assurance procedures by projects.
QA Focus’s was originally funded to support
JISC’s 5/99 programme. However during 2003 our remit was extended to support
JISC’s FAIR and X4L in addition to 5/99.
The QA Focus Team
QA Focus began its work on 1 January 2002.
Initially the service was provided by UKOLN and ILRT, University of Bristol.
However, following ILRT’s decision to re-focus on their core activities they
left QA Focus and were replaced by the AHDS on 1 January 2003.
This handbook has been developed by the
current QA Focus team members: Brian Kelly, UKOLN (QA Focus project leader),
Amanda Closier (QA Focus officer), Marieke Guy, UKOLN (former QA Focus
officer), Hamish James, AHDS (QA Focus project leader at AHDS) and Gareth
Knight (QA Focus officer).
This handbook provides advice on use of a
quality assurance framework.
The handbook forms part of a series of
Quality Assurance handbooks, which cover the areas which have been addressed by
QA Focus work:
Part 1: About Quality assurance: The development of quality assurance procedures by projects.
Part
2: Quality Assurance For Standards: The selection
and deployment of standards for use by projects.
Part
3: Quality Assurance For Digitisation: The
digitisation of resources, including text, image, moving image and sound
resources.
Part
4: Quality Assurance For Web/Access: Access to
resources, especially access using the Web.
Part
5: Quality Assurance For Metadata: The use of
metadata, such as resource discovery metadata.
Part
6: Quality Assurance For Software: Development and
deployment of software applications.
Part
7: Quality Assurance For Service Deployment:
Deployment of project deliverables into a service environment.
Part
8: Quality Assurance For Other Areas: Quality
assurance in areas not covered elsewhere.
The handbook consists of two main sections:
Briefing
Documents: Brief, focussed advice on best
practices.
Toolkit: Self-assessment checklists which can help ensure that projects
have addressed the key areas.
This section addresses access to resources,
primarily through use of the Web.
The World Wide Web is the key delivery
platform for many projects. There is an expectation that projects will comply
with W3C’s standards in this area, including HTML and CSS.
There is a need to ensure that systematic
processes for checking compliance with such standards and used. It is not
appropriate to rely on the appearance on a Web page in a Web browser as
browsers are designed to be tolerant of errors. In addition we should seek to
ensure that resources can be accessed by accessibility tools (such as speaking
browsers) and by non-traditional devices (such as PDAs).
In addition to access to resources using
traditional Web browsers there is an increasing expectation that resources will
be processed by automated software or delivered in formats other than HTML.
The briefing documents seek to describe
best practices in this area.
The following briefing documents which
address the area of QA have been produced:
·
Summary of the QA Focus Methodology (briefing-30)
·
Top 10 Quality Assurance Tips (briefing-37)
·
Implementing Your Own QA
(briefing-58)
About This Document
This briefing document gives a summary of the quality assurance
framework which has been developed by QA Focus.
Citation Details
Summary of the QA Focus
Methodology, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-30/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-30/>
Keywords: QA, quality assurance, best practice, standards, methodology,
briefing
To
achieve these aims projects should ensure that their deliverables comply with
appropriate standards and best practices. Although it may be easy to require
compliance, it may not always be easy to implement appropriate standards and
best practices. In order to ensure that best endeavours are made it is
recommended that projects should implement quality assurance (QA) procedures.
QA Focus’s Methodology
Projects
may be concerned that implementation of QA procedures can be time-consuming.
The approach recommended by QA Focus is designed to be lightweight and to avoid
unnecessary bureaucracy, while still providing a mechanism for implementation
of best practices.
The
QA Focus methodology is based on the following:
·
Documented policies on standards and best practices:
If standards and best practices are not documented it will be difficult to ensure best practices are implemented, especially in light of staff turnover, changing environments, etc.
If standards and best practices are not documented it will be difficult to ensure best practices are implemented, especially in light of staff turnover, changing environments, etc.
·
Documentation of the architecture used:
to ensure that the architecture used to implement the system is capable of complying with the standards.
to ensure that the architecture used to implement the system is capable of complying with the standards.
·
Documented exceptions:
There may be occasions when deviations from standards may be allowed. Such deviations should be documented and responsibility for this agreed.
There may be occasions when deviations from standards may be allowed. Such deviations should be documented and responsibility for this agreed.
·
Systematic checking:
It is necessary to document systematic procedures for ensuring compliance with standards.
It is necessary to document systematic procedures for ensuring compliance with standards.
·
Audit trails:
It can be helpful to provide audit trails which can help spotting trends.
It can be helpful to provide audit trails which can help spotting trends.
It
is felt that use of this methodology should not only be beneficial to the
projects themselves, but also help to minimise problems when project
deliverables are re-used.
Example: QA For Web Sites
As
an example of implementation of this approach the QA policy for standards for
the QA Focus Web site is given below.
Area: Web site: standards
Standards: The Web site will be based on the XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0 standards.
Architecture: The Web site will make use of PHP. XHTML 1.0 templates will be
provided for use by authors, who will use simple HTML tools such as HTML-kit.
Web site will provide access to an MS Access database. This will also comply
with XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0 standards. The Web site will also host MS Word and
MS PowerPoint files. These documents will also be available in HTML.
Exceptions: Resources converted from proprietary formats (such as MS Word and
PowerPoint) need not necessarily comply with XHTML and CSS standards if doing
so would be too time-consuming.
Responsibilities: The QA Focus project manager is responsible for changing this
policy and addressing serious deviations from the policy.
Checking: When resources are created or updated the resource should be
validated, usually using the ,validate
tool. When several resources are updated the ,rvalidate tool should be used.
Audit trail: A full audit should be
carried out at least quarterly. The findings should be published on the QA
Focus Web site, and deviations from the policy documented.
A
second example describes the QA policy for link checking of the QA Focus Web
site.
Area: Web site: link checking
Best
Practice: There should be no internal broken links.
We should seek to fix broken links to external resources.
Exceptions: There may be broken links in historical documents or surveys. If
remote Web sites are updated it may be too time-consuming to update links.
Change
Control: The QA Focus project manager is
responsible for changing this policy and addressing serious deviations from the
policy.
Checking: When resources are created or updated the resource should be
link-checked, usually using the ,checklink
tool. When several resources are updated the ,rchecklink tool should be used.
Audit
trail: A full audit should be carried out at least
quarterly. Initially two tools should be used to spot deficiencies in the
link-checking software. The findings should be published on the QA Focus Web
site, and deviations from the policy documented.
These two examples illustrate that developing QA policies need not be time-consuming. In addition implementation of these policies need
not be time-consuming and can improve the quality of the Web site.
About This Document
This briefing document provides top 10 tips on implementing quality
assurance.
Citation Details
Top
10 Quality Assurance Tips, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-37/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-37/>
Keywords: QA, quality assurance, policies, procedures, experiences, tips,
briefing
The Top 10 Tips
1 Document
Your Policies
You should ensure
that you document policies for your project – remember that it can be difficult
to implement quality if there isn’t a shared understanding across your project
of what you are seeking to achieve. For example, see the QA Focus policies on
Web standards and link checking [1] [2].
2 Ensure
Your Technical Infrastructure Is Capable Of Implementing Your Policies
You should ensure
that your technical infrastructure which is capable of implementing your
policies. For example, if you wish to make use of XHTML on your Web site you
are unlikely to be able to achieve this if you are using Microsoft Word as your
authoring tool.
3 Ensure
That You Have The Resources Necessary To Implement Your Policies
You should ensure
that you have the resources needed to implement your policies. This can include
technical expertise, investment in software and hardware, investment in
training and staff development, etc.
4 Implement
Systematic Checking Procedures To Ensure Your Policies Are Being Implemented
Without
systematic checking procedures there is a danger that your policies are not
implemented in practice. For example, see the QA Focus checking procedures for
Web standards and link checking [3] [4].
5 Keep
Audit Trails
You should seek
to provide audit trails which provide a record of results of your checking
procedures. This can help to spot trends which may indicate failures in your
procedures (for example, a sudden growth in the numbers of non-compliant HTML
resources may be due to deployment of a new authoring tool, or a lack of
adequate training for new members of the project team).
6 Learn
From Others
Rather than
seeking to develop quality assurance policies and procedures from scratch you
should seek to learn from others. You may find that the QA Focus case studies
[5] provide useful advice which you can learn from.
7 Share
Your Experiences
If you are in the
position of having deployed effective quality assurance procedures it can be
helpful for the wider community if you share your approaches. For example,
consider writing a QA Focus case study [6].
8 Seek
‘Fitness For Purpose’ – Not Perfection
You should seek
to implement ‘fitness for purpose’ which is based on the levels of funding
available and the expertise and resources you have available. Note that
perfection is not necessarily a useful goal to aim for – indeed, there is a
danger that ‘seeking the best may drive out the good’.
9 Remember
That QA Is For You To Implement
Although the QA
Focus Web site provides a wide range of resources which can help you to ensure
that your project deliverables are interoperable and widely accessible you
should remember that you will need to implement quality assurance within your
project.
10 Seek
To Deploy QA Procedures More Extensively
Rather than
seeking to implement quality assurance across your project, it can be
beneficial if quality assurance is implemented at a higher level, such as
within you department or organisation. If you have an interest in more
widespread deployment of quality assurance, you should read about the ISO 9000
QA standards [7].
References
1
Policy on Web Standards,
QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/web/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/web/>
2
Policy on Linking, QA
Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/links/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/links/>
3
Procedure for Web Standards, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/procedures/web/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/procedures/web/>
4
Procedures for Linking, QA
Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/procedures/links/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/procedures/links/>
5
Case Studies, QA Focus,
UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/case-studies/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/case-studies/>
6
Contributing To Case Studies, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/case-studies/#contributing>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/case-studies/#contributing>
7
Selection and Use of the ISO 9000:2000 family of
standards, ISO, <http://www.iso.org/iso/en/iso9000-14000/understand/selection_use/
selection_use.html>
selection_use.html>
About This Document
This briefing document describes how you can implement quality assurance
to support your own project work.
Citation Details
Implementing Your Own QA, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-58/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-58/>
Keywords: QA, quality assurance, audit trails, template, checks,
implementation, briefing
About This Document
This document describes how you can
implement your own quality assurance policies and procedures to support your
development work.
The QA Focus Methodology
The QA Focus methodology aims to ensure
that IT development work produces services which are widely accessible and
interoperable. It seeks to do this by developing a quality assurance framework
which developers can make use of.
As described in the QA Focus briefing
document “Summary of the QA Focus
Methodology” [1] the QA Focus methodology is based on:
Documented policies on standards and best practices: If the standards and best practices are not documented it will be
difficult to ensure best practices are implemented, especially in light of
staff turnover, changing environments, etc.
Documentation of the architecture used: A description of the architecture is needed to ensure that the
architecture used to implement the system is capable of complying with the
standards.
Documented exceptions:
There may be occasions when deviations from standards may be allowed. Such
deviations should be documented and responsibility for this agreed.
Systematic checking: It is
necessary to document systematic procedures for ensuring compliance with
standards.
Audit trails: It can be
helpful to provide audit trails which can help spotting trends.
Implementing Your Own QA
The QA Focus briefing document “Summary of the QA Focus Methodology” [1]
provides examples of implementing QA in the areas of Web standards and link
checking. In this document we provide a template which can be used for any
relevant aspect of IT development work.
QA Template
The following template can be used for
developing your own QA framework.
Area: The area covered by
the QA (e.g. Web, software development, usability, …)
Standards: The standards
which are relevant to the area and which you intend to make use of.
Best Practises: The best
practices which are relevant to the area and which you intend to make use of.
Architecture: The
architecture you intend to use.
Exceptions: A summary of
the exceptions to best practices and recommended standards and a justification
for the exceptions.
Change Control: A
description of the responsibility for changing this QA document and the process
for changing the policy.
Checking: A description of
the systematic checking procedures which will ensure that you are complying
with the policies you have established.
Audit trail: A description of audit trails (if any) which provide a record your
compliance checking, in order to identify any trends.
As can be seen this QA template is simple
and straightforward to use. The QA Focus methodology recognises the lack of
resources which can hinder the deployment of more comprehensive QA frameworks
and so has developed a more light-weight approach.
Examples
Examples of use of this approach can be
found on the QA Focus Web site, which includes details of QA policies and
procedures in the areas of Web standards [2], linking [3], usage statistics [4]
and instant messaging [5].
References
1 “Summary
of the QA Focus Methodology”, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-30/>
2 “Policy
On Web Standards”, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/web/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/web/>
3 “Policy
On Linking”, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/links/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/links/>
4 “Policy
On Usage Statistics”, QA Focus, UKOLN,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/statistics/>
5 “Policy On Instant Messaging”, QA Focus,
UKOLN, <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/statistics/>
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/qa/policies/instant-messaging
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