Recommendation 4.1.3 Compression of large files or collections of small files
The New Zealand Web Standards 2.0 were released in March 2009 and replace the previous version, the New Zealand Government Web Standards 1.0 (below). See Meeting the standards for more information.
The Recommendation
Recommendation 4.1.3 Compression of large files or collections of small files.
Large files or collections of small files are made available in both compressed and uncompressed versions. A link to a suitable decompression utility is to be provided.
Guide to this recommendation
You should use the Zip 2.3 format for compression, and to provide for users who wish to download a suitable decompression utility.
Rationale for this recommendation
When downloadable objects such as documents, program executables and multimedia files are presented for download, users need to know if the object downloaded is going to be accessible and usable to them. Presenting information including the document size enables the user to make a decision to download the document, which they may chose not to do for a number of reasons, such as determining they may not obtain a successful download with their current connection type, the download may take too long or the download may incur a degree of cost (with the user’s ISP) that the user may not wish to incur. Information provided about the document type may result in the user deciding to avoid download, due to not having the necessary tools/software on hand to access the document.
