Web Standards

Old, please update

Web Standards are the ‘grammar’ of the Internet – they define how HTML works, and how web browsers understand it. Because web browsers can handle pages with poor grammar, even errors, the vast majority of web sites do not follow web standards, and will not validate using the W3C validation tools. However, most of us know that problems with websites often occur across different browsers – a site will work properly in one browser, and fall apart in another. This is because different browsers will deal with poor HTML differently.

Why Web Standards Matter to You

You will save money:

Web standards are based on free, open-source specifications and languages. They are almost universally applicable, and are based on strong specifications from the W3C. When a site is coded to standards, you can be confident that future technological innovations will be interoperable with your site with a minimum of redesign.
Because the new standard demands separation of design from content, the investment you make in creating content for your site will remain valuable through future versions of your site – all changes to the design and functioning of your site will be fully compatible with your existing content – no need to re-write the whole site.
Similarly, because your site content will be in a standard document format, it is simple to re-purpose you content for print publication or presentations.
Your website will use a lot less bandwidth – often a five-fold reduction in page size is achieved.
The cost of upgrading and expanding your site in the future will be reduced because redesigns and upgrades will be much easier.
The life of your site itself will be extended, because major changes can be made by altering a few files, rather than rewriting the site. As well, your site will not be ‘locked-in’ to the particular idiosyncrasies of one design team – any professional web developer will be able to work on your site easily.

You will provide a much better site to your stakeholders.

Standards based sites tend to be faster to load.
They are dramatically better in different browsers, operating systems, and monitors – meaning all of your users will see a clear and useful website.
Your search engine results will be greatly improved.
Your site will be backward and forward compatible with older and new technology.

Why PXI embraced standards-based design

We felt the economic and usability benefits to our clients were significant.
Accessibility is an important, and often over-looked, responsibility of web developers.
Technically, it allow us to build better websites, sites that look better, work faster, and provide a better user experience – especially in conjunction with our CMS
Web standards are the backbone of the Internet – they are the basis for new technological innovations, and the underlying philosophy of universal access.

Technical Details

There are, broadly, two kinds of programming languages used by web sites, client side languages and server-side languages. Server side languages (like perl or PHP) are programs that run on the web server itself, and are used to access databases, run content-management systems, and process information. Client-side languages are programs that are sent to the viewers computer, and processed by their web browser. HTML is the most familiar example.

HTML is what is know as a ‘markup language’, a set of coding standards that, when included in a document, can be used by web browsers to display the document according to the author’s intent. All browsers know how to understand HTML, though different browsers sometimes interpret it slightly differently. This is because the vast majority of HTML on the Internet today does not conform to the coding standards in the actual specifications of the language. Standards are kind of like proper spelling and grammar – they are needed to ensure everyone can understand exactly what is meant.

XHTML 1.0 is a current stanard from the W3C that we follow. It’s a lot like HTML 4, but because it is XML based, it requires a little more rigour. XHTML, by deprcating some elements, encourages further is the separation of design from content. XHTML uses stylesheets (CSS) to define the way a document will look, and clear, simple HTML markup to define the actual content. From a design perspective, XHTML encourages us to keep our pages simple, fast and light, with a minimum of graphic and coding excess. Pages that were once 300 lines long can be written in 50 lines. Text is coded as actual text, not littered with font tags and layout tables.

Useful Links

“The Economics of Web Standards”: http://piecesofrakesh.blogspot.com/2004/09/economics-of-xhtml.html
Why Adopt W3C Web Standards?
Why buy standards compliant Web sites
Using XHTML/CSS for an Effective Search Engine Campaign
The Business Value of Web Standards
Ten Reasons to Move To CSS
Web Standards for Business