What we understand with Web Standards?
The World Wide Web Consortium, along with other groups and standards associations, have established technologies for creating and interpreting web-based content. These technologies, which we call web standards, are carefully designed to deliver the greatest benefits to the greatest number of web users while ensuring the long-term viability of any document published on the Web.
Designing and building with these standards simplifies and lowers the cost of production, while delivering sites that are accessible to more people and more types of Internet devices. Sites developed along these lines will continue to function correctly as traditional desktop browsers evolve, and as new Internet devices come to market.
CSS webpages and benefits using Web Standards
Though the sheer ease of creating HTML pages has clearly been beneficial to the Web's growth, it's also been a curse. Because they're so forgiving, web browsers have allowed people to write code that doesn't stick to the clearly outlined guidelines specified by the creators of HTML.
Web standards force you to check for errors. Simply declaring which version of HTML (or, for that matter, XML) you're using will let you validate your pages against those specifications. Validation turns HTML into something like a scripting language. So, basically, the benefits are speed development, simplify maintenance, increase opportunity, open up access points, reduce bandwith costs and improve user experience.
Lack of uniform support for W3C standards left many consumers frustrated: when using the wrong browser, many could not view content or perform desired transactions. Among those most frequently hurt were people with disabilities or special needs.
Recommended Readings
Specially recommended readings for companies with internet presence:
The benefits of Web Standards to your visitors, your clients and you
- Author.- Russ Weakley (Max Design). 23 february 2004
- Well known text translated to several languages and esential to understand the benefits of webstandards. Web standards are intended to be a common base, a foundation for the world wide web so that browsers and other software understand the same vocabulary.
The Beauty and Business of CSS
- Author.- Douglas Bowman (Stopdesign). 30 september 2004
- Douglas Bowman is one of the CSS/Webstandards gurus out there. In this presentation (done in CSS) for Web Essenciatls'04, Douglas shows us the power of webstandards. Case studies are included, explaining how standards changed the way of thinking for sites like ESPN, Wired or Microsoft.
Web Standards for Business
- Author.- Stephanie Troeth (The Web Standards Project)
- This is a translation of the article Les standards web pour l’entreprise (French) by François Nonnenmacher (Padawan) that was published on OpenWeb in November 2003. This article highlights the benefits of using Web standards for business sites (Internet, intranet and extranet sites).
The Dollars and Sense of Building to Standards
- Author.- Alan K'necht (Digital Web Magazine). 9 February 2005
- While there may be no official standard for how Web developers code Web sites, we need look no further than the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for some recommendations. Only by following these guidelines can Web developers ensure the maximum return on investment for Web site development.
Designing With Web Standards
- Author.- Jeffrey Zeldman (Happy Cog Studios). 2003
- There was a time not that long ago when many drivers thought nothing of tossing empty bottles out the windows of their cars. Years later, these same citizens came to realize that littering was not an acceptable way to dispose of their trash.
Developing With Web Standards
- Author.- Roger Johansson (456 Berea Street). Last updated 2004-10-05
- How and why using web standards will let you build websites in a way that saves time and money for the developer and provides a better experience for the visitor. Also discussed are other methods, guidelines and best practices that will help produce high-quality accesible websites.
A web standards checklist
- Author.- Russ Weakley (Max Design). 05 August 2004
- This isn't an uber-checklist. There are probably many items that could be added. More importantly, it shouldn't be seen as a list of items that must be addressed on every site that you develop. It's simply a guide that can be used as a handy tool for developers.
