Web Standards
Web Standards are developed and maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a non-profit organisation comprising academics and large businesses alike under the direction of Tim Berners-Lee (the 'inventor' of the web). Together they aspire to realise the full potential of the web by establishing common rules and protocols.
Unfortunately, even though standards have been around for many years, they've also been neglected and ignored by browser manufacturers and designers alike. However, in recent years, a new breed of standards-compliant browsers, a plethora of browsing devices (PDA, WAP, Digital TV etc.) and a growing online audience of elderly and disabled users have exposed severe weaknesses in the old methods of building websites. In short, designing and developing in isolation, independent of standards means designing in a dead end.
Why Are Web Standards So Important?
Standards are naturally solid foundations for usability and accessibility, since they are universally-applied rules, aiming to involve all internet users (this is expanded upon by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)). Among other things, this ensures consistency of experience.
Standards are future-proof and are the building blocks of the web, not the latest technology fad. Within a relatively short time, many websites risk being obsolete if they don't become standards-compliant. Even Microsoft recently (August 2004) updated their design to become more standards-orientated (although even they still have a way to go).
Standards-based design tools like CSS and XHTML ensure a separation of layout from content, freeing the core of your website (the information) to be applied with relative ease to any number of platforms - print, mobile phones, televisions, cars, PDAs, kiosks, and desktops.
Why Are Web Standards Good For Business?
CSS and XHTML separate your content from the style. Content then assumes semantic, rather than visual, meaning. And because semantically meaningful code is universally interpreted, your content is easier to 'read' by search engines, resulting in more relevant and often higher ranking, leading to increased amounts of visitors.
Standards ensure increased accessibility for all visitors. This isn't just about catering for disabled internet users, it's about reaching the largest possible audience, no matter how they access your site.
In number terms: Just under two million people in the UK have a visual impairment; Around 8.5 million people (14%) in the UK are classified as having some type of disability (and growing due to a shifting elderly demographic); Similar estimates are closer to 52 million (19%) in the US*.
There are many other advantages in adhering to standards, including increased speed of page loading - up to 70% quicker in some cases - thanks to drastically reduced amounts of code.
Web Standards Save You Money. No, Really.
On top of all this, standards-compliant design doesn't cost any more and typically costs less than old fashioned methods, especially when you take into account the costly and inefficient 2-year redesign cycle that non-standards compliant design demands in order to keep up-to-date. Plus standards compliant code is more flexible, is easier to update and can be applied to multiple platforms without any duplication or alteration of content.
*The UK figures are quoted by the Disability Rights Commission ( www.drc-gb.org ) who also highlight the burgeoning amount of over-65s. This sector of the population is set to rise 40% over the next 40 years, while the rest of the population rises only 7%. Elderly people are also coming online in ever-increasing numbers. The US figures come courtesy of a 1994 US Harris Poll, backed up by current Census Data.
