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How does this manual work
To understand what information on this site is relevant to you, you need to know which elements are present and what relationship these elements have to one another. These elements are:
The following diagram shows the relationship between the various elements of this manual.
![[The six elements of this website: from the theoretical Framework through to the practical Manual. From the Framework come Requirements and Checks. Requirements lead to Guidelines and Checks lead to Checking Methods. The Manual is useful when using the Guidelines and Checking Methods.]](/english/img/hoe-werkt-het.png)
Element 1: Guidelines
In order to meet the Requirements, web developers can use the Web Guidelines. A website that meets the Web Guidelines, automatically meets the Requirements.
Element 2: Checking methods
There are several ways of checking a website. On the basis of the Checks, suitable checking methods for website assessors have been sought. This part of the manual is still limited. It is expected that the Evaluation section will be expanded in a later version of the Manual.
Element 3: The Manual
The set of Web Guidelines says what has to be done to realise a sustainable accessible website. The manual helps in the practical steps leading up to this. The manual guides the reader through the entire development process. The Web Guidelines are added to the texts, whenever relevant. You can also jump from the overview of guidelines to the relevant information in the manual. This allows developers to get to work straight away. Everyone can read extra information wherever he or she needs it.
In addition, the site map contains particular sections for principals, developers and administrators. These sections give an overview of chapters within the Manual that are relevant to these groups.
Element 4: The Framework of Requirements and Checks
Wherever this manual mentions a Framework, this refers to The Framework of Requirements and Checks. The Framework of Requirements and Checks shows in what areas requirements have been developed or still need to be developed.
The Framework has been developed to define technology-independent areas of interest. It should ‘cover’ the many conceivable aspects of web publication as completely as possible.
For each requirements, there is a corresponding check. As the requirements and checks relate to the same areas, Framework of Checks would be exactly the same as a Framework of Requirements. Therefore, the two have been combined, for the sake of convenience.
Element 5: Requirements
Initially a set of Requirements was developed with which (Dutch Government) websites should comply. Likewise, the Requirements should be universally applicable and technology-independent. This makes the resulting requirements too general in a practical sense and therefore not of much use to web designers. Principals and web administrators can use the Requirements when writing tenders and evaluating their websites, respectively. For practical implementation purposes, web designers are referred to the Web Guidelines.
Element 6: Checks
Every requirement corresponds with a check, which is formulated as a question. However, for the actual evaluation of a website the Quickscan and the Normative Document Web Guidelines prove to be more practical tools. The Normative Document is primarily meant for manual inspection by testing specialists.
