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Development
Pre-production
(N.B. The subjects discussed in Pre-production are important aspects of website development. However, there are no guidelines relating to these subjects. These chapters are mainly to give interested parties an impression of the less technical aspects of website development. A few best practices are also indicated.)
Aim
The aim is the desired end result. If a website is a solution to a problem – a means of achieving something – then the aim will be the thing to be finally achieved. 
Concept
A concept is an abstract idea formulated on the basis of specific examples and events. A concept is not the same as an idea. Whereas an idea is a single notion, a concept compromises several notions and ideas.
Information Architecture
Information architecture is the process of organising, labelling and structuring information.
Design
The design of a site is the translation of the aim into a visual solution. Assessing a design, is not about ‘beautiful or ugly’, but rather about the degree to which the design fulfils the aim.
Planning
The fact that a (website) project requires sound planning may seem self-evident. In practice, it can prove difficult to anticipate everything that needs to be considered in advance.
Production
Production philosophy
The separation of structure and presentation and the principle of progressive enhancement.
Building according to web standards
Web standards are guidelines for the accessible and sustainable construction of websites.
Descriptive markup
HTML is widely used on the Web as a way of structuring content in text documents. This structure is called markup. Descriptive markup is HTML as it was originally intended: adding structure and meaning to the content.
Stable, unique URLs
Links connect one document to another. It is becoming increasingly difficult for web users and search engines to find the information behind a link.
Open standards
On websites focussing on information exchangeability, the use of open standards stimulates communication between the sender and recipient of information.
Page structure
The HTML code of each web page consists of a number of main elements, which in turn contain other elements. This chapter focuses on the essential main elements of an accessible web page, and on the order and use of these elements within HTML documents.
Images and alternate text
Besides ‘regular’ text, images are the most common information tool on the Web. This is also where most accessibility problems occur. This chapter is about writing alternate texts for the benefit of visitors who cannot see images.
Links and navigation
Links (hyperlinks) are the threads of the Web; they make it possible for visitors to jump from one page to another by simply clicking a mouse button.
Cascading Style Sheets
W3C has introduced CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for the presentation of an HTML document. CSS functions as ‘style templates’, used to determine how elements in a browser are presented.
Use of colour
On the face of it, the use of colour on websites seems to be a design issue. However, accessibility is entirely dependent on the ability of visitors to perceive the difference between foreground and background.
Tables
As in other media, tables on the web are used for the relational presentation of information. Owing to limited technical options, the Web has developed another application of tables: tables for the visual presentation – the layout – of a website.
Frames
Frames are a technique used to present several pages within a single browser window. A frameset page reserves sections in the window, in which individual pages are loaded.
Forms
Forms occur on the Web in all kinds of variations: forms for collecting information (contact forms, surveys), search functions, navigation and special script applications. With all forms interaction with the visitor is key.
Client-side script and DOM
Client-side script is the term for ‘programme’ routines that are executed on the client side, in the visitor's browser. DOM (Document Object Model) gives script languages the option of manipulating HTML elements.
Languages
Web developers will sometimes be confronted with demands for multi-language versions of the site. This chapter addresses links to the language variants and how languages are specified in the HTML markup.
Character encoding
Character encoding is a term for a mechanism that takes place behind the scenes of virtually every digital document. It tells a computer which characters (letters, numbers, punctuation marks, et cetera) are contained in a document.
Printing
Particularly when websites contain a lot of information, web developers must make sure that they can be printed.
Optimisation for search engines
Many visitors will end up on web pages by way of a search engine.
Metadata
Succinctly put, metadata is information about information. Metadata describes characteristics of information such as the content, quality and condition of information.
RSS Syndication
RSS is the acronym for Rich Site Summary (or, as some people argue, Really Simple Syndication). RSS syndication is a method for sharing and distributing the content of a website.
Usability
Usability refers to research into the ease of use. For websites, usability is all about how users handle applications and specifically the User Interface, the (graphic) front page of the website.
Contingency design
Contingency design is the overcoming and prevention of error scenarios. These are situations in which visitors encounter problems on the website. Contingency design offers visitors assistance in solving such problems.
Post-production
Production documents
The source code for HTML pages, scripts and the like can become complex.
Tests
The last test phase gives the developer an opportunity to thoroughly walk through the site once again and check the content factually.
