Managing a large educational website where content is constantly being amended by multiple editors can be a time consuming process. Information on the site needs to be up to date for both prospective and current students, with any errors being identified quickly and clearly so corrections can be made. SiteCheck provides organisations with a web based tool that not only gives an overview of the whole website, but also detailed reports for sections of the website about broken links, spelling errors and accessibility issues. One educational institution that is currently benefiting from the SiteCheck service is The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Background The London School of Economics and Political Science has been a Siteimprove customer since December 2005, and started using the full SiteCheck suite (LinkCheck, SpellCheck & Accessibility) in October 2007. The SiteCheck service is currently assisting them in the detailed process of transferring data to a new CMS, by providing quality control information for sections of the website as well as an historical overview of performance.The following text has been provided through a written interview with Stephen Emmott.Stephen Emmott heads LSE’s web presence, managing the team responsible for its production and provision (Web Services) in partnership with over 400 web editors working throughout the School.What attracted you to trial SiteCheck and what convinced you to buy?A software as a service (SaaS) solution is the ideal model for monitoring, reviewing, and acting on the quality of a large and complex web presence. We have in the past used client-side tools but unfortunately these led to limited and localised improvements in quality. They required too much resource and coordination to use effectively. As users of SiteImprove’s SiteAlarm service, we were offered a free trial of SiteCheck which demonstrated the benefits. Comparatively, the functionality, cost, ease of use, and particularly the attitude and support of SiteImprove’s staff placed SiteCheck as the preferred solution.How have you used the SiteCheck service?Until recently we have used the service to monitor quality of the whole website and selectively improve key pages. However, we are now using SiteCheck to support migration of our entire web presence to a new CMS. SiteCheck now includes a history feature which enables us to demonstrate the impact of both the CMS and our use of SiteCheck on quality. As well as enabling us to manage quality, it provides the crucial data we require to assess the business case.What impact has SiteCheck had on your web management?SiteCheck has enabled us to make quality assurance part of the weekly routine. This means we are better able to give quality assurance the priority it requires.How has SiteCheck benefited your website?We are now able to monitor, review and act on quality of the LSE website as a whole. This has led to systematic and incremental improvement in quality.After using the full SiteCheck service since October 2007, how would you sum up your overall experience?We rely on SiteCheck to provide an ‘outsider looking in’ view on the quality of our website. For anyone managing a large and complex web service, attaining a user perspective requires time and effort. SiteCheck has made this achievable.