Rule 5 - Informatics technology

Content

1. Rule

The technology used in IntraComm pages must conform to the capacity and capabilities of the standard Commission internal server and client PC configurations.

2. Justification

Compatibility with internal Commission server platforms and PC configurations ensures access for all internal users, but it must always be kept in mind that this does not guarantee access to all users (other Institutions, officials at home or on mission, retired officials, etc.).

Where access to external users is essential, no assumptions can be made concerning the target users' technical capabilitis and so a "lowest common denominator" approach must be taken, as for EUROPA internet pages.

3. Description

3.1. Environment

The Data Centre (DIGIT.C.1) , hosts IntraComm on behalf of the Communication and Information Management Unit, ADMIN.D.5, using web servers and database servers run on UNIX compatible systems. The technical details are described in a separate document.

The Data Centre has set up two environments. The production environment is accessible to all users. The test environment is accessible only to information providers and can be used to upload and verify content, links and scripts before having them copied to the production environment.

Changes to the production environment are executed according to the procedures set out in this IPG, chapter 2.

The target user configuration is :

For a decription of standard reference configurations, see the Informatics Architecture.

3.2. General Rules

  1. Use standard templates where available and appropriate
  2. Use standard images where available and appropriate
  3. Use standard software listed on the Commission's official Product List
  4. Follow all the rules and procedures described in this Information Providers Guide

3.3. Detailed Rules

3.3.1 Identification

!DOCTYPE

The current version of HTML officially approved for use on IntraComm is HTML 4.01 Transitional.

Allthough the !DOCTYPE tag is not strictly required for any HTML page, it is recommended as it has many advantages :

Usually the !DOCTYPE is inserted automatically by HTML-editors and authors give little or no thought to its accuracy or usefulness. Care must be taken that the !DOCTYPE tag accurately reflects the status of the HTML which follows.

Recommendation for the !DOCTYPE tag :

!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"

This is the HTML 4.01 Transitional DTD, which includes presentation attributes and elements that W3C expects to phase out as support for style sheets matures. The Strict DTD should be used when possible, but it is very strict, and use of the Transitional DTD gives more flexibility in the transition from previous HTML versions to 4.01.

META DATA

See chapter 7

3.3.2 Presentation

Text and fonts

for Latin characters use ISO-8859-1 META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-1"

for Greek pages use ISO-8859-7

META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-7"

Links

Links may be implemented in different ways :

Text

Image

Image map

JavaScript

The HREF attribute of links may be specified in several ways :

Other requirements for links :

Images

3.3.3 Structure

FILE FORMATS

The following file formats are recommended for use on IntraComm :

HTML files

filetype ".html" or ".htm"

PDF files

filetype ".pdf"

This platform independent format has become a standard on the internet with the necessary reader included in the Commission's standard configuration, and available free of charge to others

IMAGE files

filetype ".gif", ".jpg"

(The ".png" format is not yet fully supported by all browsers)

ZIP files

filetype ".zip"

This is also an industry standard for grouping and compressing files for download

SOUND and Video files

Formats must be compatible with the Commission's standard plug-ins (see Product List)

Always indicate the file type and the file size

Frames

The general rule is : no frames.

Frames can be quite useful if used in the right manner, usually for retaining an index or a header on a page, but quite annoying if you want to bookmark a page or print out a page. There may be further problems when individual frames become directly accessible via a search engine, without the presence of the full frame context.

The special rule is : under "special circumstances" frames may be allowed with prior authorisation of the IntraComm Team. There is a big emphasis on PRIOR.

The "special circumstances are" :

Where the use of frames significantly improves access to, or maintenance of, information without compromising the other rules of this IPG. This may be through :

Authorisation is considered on a case-by-case basis.

When authorised, the following constraints still apply :

3.3.4 Multimedia

Sound and video

Sound and video add to the richness of IntraComm pages but excessive use can overload the server and/or the user's connection and result in an unacceptably long download time. Sound and video should only be used to convey information, not simply for entertainment.

Plug-ins

Pages and documents on IntraComm must not require the use of a "non-standard" plug-in. (See the Product List for standard plug-ins)

3.3.5 Dynamic web pages, scripting, CGI, ...

Active X

Must not be used because it is platform dependent.

Java

Java is a very versatile and powerful platform independent tool, and its use is allowed on IntraComm with the following restrictions :

DHTML

Dynamic HTML is HTML which can be modified even after it has been loaded into a browser. It is a concept which has been enabled by a number of inter-acting technologies, including JavaScript, VBScript, the Document Object Module (DOM), layers, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

There are certain difficulties in its use :

DHTML techniques are recommended for use on IntraComm only with the following restrictions :

Javascript

The use of JS is subject to certain restrictions :

Examples of adding real value are :

In all these cases alternative non-JS solutions must also be available and the JS must degrade gracefully. (See also part 7 on WAI accessibility.)

Dynamic contents

The use of static pages is preferred, but dynamically generated content is allowed with the following restrictions :