Q & A from Assessment 1

Below are my answers which are copied Assessment 1, shown in a simple table.

Question My Answer
Q1: XML vs HTML sitemap

XML sitemap

An XML sitemap is designed for search engines, listing URLs and metadata to help them crawl and index a site more efficiently. The benefit is better SEO (search engine optimisation) and indexing of deep pages, but it needs regular updating and isn’t user-friendly.

HTML sitemap

An HTML sitemapis a web page for human visitors, showing links to site pages to improve navigation as well as accessibility. It helps users and can aid SEO, but becomes hard to manage on large sites.

Q2: Three IDEs

Visual Studio Code

  • Positive: Free, lightweight & supports many languages as well as having great extensions.
  • Negative: Can feel overwhelming with loads of add-ons.
  • Suitability: Good for beginners because it's simple to start but grows with skill.

Sublime Text

  • Positive: Very fast, clean interface & distraction-free coding.
  • Negative: Limited built-in features, most advanced tools need plugins.
  • Suitability: Easy for trainees to learn basics without clutter, but not as much support as

Eclipse

  • Positive: Powerful, especially for Java development, with many built-in tools.
  • Negative: Heavy, slower as well as being confusing for new users.
  • Suitability: Useful for trainees learning Java, but not as good for absolute beginners.
Q3: Browser history + standards

Early web browsers like Mosaic (1993) as well as Netscape Navigator (1994) made the internet accessible to many people, but soon competition with Internet Explorer led to “browser wars.” Browsers at the time added their own features without fully following the W3C web standards, which caused compatibility problems for developers. Modern browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge now focus more on standards compliance although developers still face issues with different browsers supporting features in slightly different ways, requiring testing & cross-browser fixes.

Q4: Testing methodologies

Website testing methodologies are processes which are used to check if a site works correctly and meets requirements. Things such as functionality testing (making sure links, forms, navigation & interactive features work as intended) as well as browser compatibility testing (making sure the site displays & behaves properly across different browsers, devices as well as screen sizes).

Q5: NTG accessibility
  • Conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with its included success criteria.
  • Follow NTG digital policies mandating accessibility for all users across devices.
Q6: Organising assets

In order to organise webpage assets I’d start by keeping everything in clearly named folders. On my computer I’d create a main project folder as well as subfolders like /images, /css, /js, and /media. Inside the website’s root folder, I’d keep the same structure so the file paths match. This makes it easier for me to manage files, prevent broken links, and update the site later on.