I brag a lot about my web site … not about heavy-loading images — I cannot create them; not about flashy scripts — I don’t even want to look at them; and not about colorful design — I KISS. But, I brag about my source code, more than fifty percent of which you cannot see.
Ok now, here’s more of the bragging part: I use valid markup on all my source code — even the stylesheets. I just can’t figure out why other web designers brag it along with their flashy web sites but after you’ve clicked on their “Valid XHTML†link or button, hundreds of errors come shooting out of the validator saying, “Stop! Please stop!â€
Ok, that was a bit exaggerated. I was the one saying those. 😆
Practice what you preach.
I cannot blame those people using pre-made or borrowed templates for having those validation links. But for those who make their own templates full of errors, proprietary tags and tag attributes, please do not tell me or anyone that you know HTML, because you don’t.
Hey, I’m concerned. The Web wasn’t supposed to be filled with junk as you can see almost everywhere. HTML was supposed to be clean. But, yes, it is not. Now, if you want to participate along with thousands of other web standards advocates, please don’t just tell us you’ve got valid markup, show us.
A law has been implemented and numerous standards recommendations[1][2][3] have been made but, sadly, it seems that only a few people acknowledge them.
Ignorance is evident almost everywhere you look or surf. Most of them are personal sites ang blog sites, but even IT or tech sites, which should be promoting these standards are not following them.
Standards-compliant code must be the standard. It must be a trend. It must be a habit. It doesn’t mean it is good if it just look good.
True beauty comes from the inside.
I almost came to linking those web sites I’ve been ranting about all day long (actually, “all entry longâ€) but I think I’d just have to make them realize it on their own. I really wouldn’t want to hurt anybody — I just want to heal the Web. 🙂
Please take note that I’ve been ranting about web designers with validation links on their site that is full of errors, and not people who just make web sites they don’t intend to validate.
Footnotes:
- ^ [XHTML1]XHTMLâ„¢ 1.0 The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (Second Edition)
W3C Recommendation 26 January 2000, revised 1 August 2002 - ^ [CSS2]Cascading Style Sheets, level 2
W3C Recommendation 12 May 1998 - ^ [WAI-WCAG]Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
W3C Recommendation 5 May 1999
Comments
6 responses to “To lead, you must follow”
naiintindihan ko po ang gusto niyong sabihin, pero panong heal the web?
isa nga marahil ako sa mga mangmang na mayroong nagsisimulang perosnal blogsite, at patuloy na humihiram ng pre-made templates na puno ng error ang site kapag vinalidate.
Funny. All this time i thought that all this (html, xhtml, css, web 2.0, etc.) are all just a means to an end. Sure, standards compliace would make sense to me if I were a corporate entity and giddy on SEO, but until most browsers pass the w3c Acid test (which they don’t) and w3c depracates tables (which they won’t), I think we should leave bloggers well enough alone – the means we’re using happen to suit our ends well enough.
Most browsers pass the W3C Acid test. What they can’t pass (except for Safari) is WaSP‘s Acid2 test. But, this shouldn’t prevent us from making standards-compliant code — they made this tests because web designers want to use those codes.
Quoting the Acid2 guide:
Another thing: Yes, W3C won’t deprecate tables — it is essential. What makes it wrong is that web designers use it for a purpose not presenting tabularized data (i.e. laying out pages).
I think you missed my point, which was: validation is a means to an end. For most bloggers, that end is just to have something on the web where they can talk or share photos. Most of their readers just read their content, not the code. GRANTED, it may lead to unsightly errors, but hey, that’s why most just use Blogger.
I understand that your post is directed more towards people in the web design field, and I agree that it needs to be looked at. My comment was more along the lines of “hey, leave the bloggers out of it.”
About the tables thing: I’ve never been a fan of them, because nested anything makes my head dizzy. But the fact that people used them for purposes other than what was originally intended struck me as rather… innovative. The only reason tables get so much flak is that they have a tendency to become a mess, and search engines don’t like them all that much.
Also, I glossed over your last note: Please take note that I’ve been ranting about web designers with validation links on their site that is full of errors, and not people who just make web sites they don’t intend to validate. My bad. You did leave the bloggers out of it for the most part, and I apologize 🙂
Ehehe … That’s alright. I think that’s why I missed your point in the first place. 🙂
I like to add on the post by adding that Web standards are super important. Take a look at what is currently happening inbetween Apple and Adobe.