Keynote to offer Web site QA service

Computerworld - Keynote Systems Inc. will roll out a service next week to help corporations perform Web site quality testing and comply with government regulations.

The service, called Enterprise HTML Toolbox, is designed to help customers build Web sites free of HTML glitches and spelling errors. It can also test for desktop browser compatibility and ensure that download times are reasonable, according to the San Mateo, Calif.-based company.

One potential customer of the service said Web surfers are less likely than ever to tolerate shoddy sites. "Users don't put up with much anymore, whether it is slowness or sloppiness or errors, and if they encounter such things they are not willing to risk their money," said Rod Ketchum, systems architect at Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) in Seattle.

REI, which sells outdoor gear, runs a business-to-consumer Web site that receives 1.5 million hits per day.

Ketcham said he already uses products from Keynote to judge the ease of buying from REI's Web site and to monitor connection times for users in various locations.

With Enterprise HTML Toolbox, organizations could monitor and manage content from multiple sources, including business-to-business partners, checking for things such as bad links, inconsistency in logos and names, or even inappropriate material, analysts said.

Features include the ability to monitor for HTML coding errors, which can be automatically repaired by Keynote's software, said analyst John McConnell at McConnell Associates in Boulder, Colo.

Some features allow sites to be monitored for the HTML tags needed to make pages conform to federal regulations regarding people with visual disabilities, said analyst Bill Gassman at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn.

"One of the big drivers of this technology will be Section 508 requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act," Gassman said. He said the service can be configured to allow users to check whether an image includes a tag to provide an audible sound for visually impaired people. Keynote will enhance the service early next year to include more Section 508 requirements, said product manager Leslie Gaillard.

Enterprise HTML Toolbox will require installation of a hardware appliance running Keynote's software within an enterprise firewall, Gaillard said. It will cost $2,500 per month per device for an unlimited number of tests.

The service is based on technology developed by NetMechanic Inc. in Waco, Texas, in 1998 and sold originally on an application service provider basis to small businesses.

Keynote bought NetMechanic in May 2002 and added greater scalability for monitoring thousands of pages. The company also improved security by adding the internal hardware appliance, said Jeff Morgan, a Keynote product development director, formerly of NetMechanic.

McConnell said pieces of the Keynote service are already provided by competitors, but not the complete package.