Standards & Validity

Ok, so we all code standards-compliant and valid code, but who actually takes the time to code within these guidelines?

I try to code valid web pages using XHTML (tables) and CSS 2.0 syntax, or if requested by the customer, HTML 4.1 Transitional (rather than XHTML).

I'm just curious to know who honestly believes in web standards, and practises these ways when coding.

I use xhtml and CSS only for features that are not available with some coding. Like the text boxes, using images on the edges. I don't normally care if its not valid but if its for a business site I care a bit.

I naturally code my websites with correct XHTML 1.1, just got used to it I guess.

Do you get many customers who especially request it?

Do you think that they care whether their site is coded valid / standards compliant?

Or do they want something that just works?

I code in the latest.

I think people just want something that works, but the way I do things it works both ways.

Sites I create are either a variation of XHTML 1.0 (except frameset) or XHTML 1.1 with CSS2 obviously.

Not only do I keep it valid but I also make sure it makes as much semantic sense as possible. Meaning I dont use tables to hold images, I use header tags/lists where appropriate, etc.

Very structured Koobie.

I'm trying to find some time to read through the book I bought from Sitepoint, Coding Tableless Designs, using CSS.

Apparantley CSS designs can be parsed better by browsers?

Originally Posted by Anthony Apparantley CSS designs can be parsed better by browsers?

Depends on the browser. For the web browser, it's more or less the same. For a handheld device or some device for disabled people, tableless layouts will be better...but of course, if you have tabular data you SHOULD USE TABLES. Tables are meant for tabular data, not images.

The most important factor is that search engines parse tableless layouts better. A search engine would parse a table expecting to find tabular data, instead it finds images, that's time wasted.

These are some reasons why you should Validate your code:

1. It Helps Cross-Browser, Cross-Platform and Future Compatibility

Although you may be able to create a web page that appears to work on your favourite browser (whatever that may be), your page may contain HTML errors (or CSS errors) that do not show up with that browser due to an existing quirk or bug. Another person using a different browser that does not share that particular bug will wind up viewing a page that does not show up correctly. It is also possible that later versions of your browser will fix that bug, and your page will be broken when people use the latest incarnation of the browser.

Coding your pages so that it is correct without errors will result in pages that are more likely to work across browsers and platforms (ie, different systems). It is also a form of insurance against future versions of browsers, since all browsers aim towards compliance with the existing HTML and CSS standards.

2. Search Engine Visibility

When there are errors in a web page, browsers typically try to compensate in different ways. Hence some browsers may ignore the broken elements while others make assumptions about what the web designer was trying to achieve. The problem is that when search engines obtain your page and try to parse them for keywords, they will also have to make certain decisions about what to do with the errors. Like browsers, different search engines will probably make different decisions about those errors in the page, resulting in certain parts of your web page (or perhaps even the entire page if your error is early in the page) not being indexed.

The safest way, it is held, is to make sure that your web page validates error-free. That way, there is no dispute about which part of your page should be scanned for keywords and the like.

3. Professionalism

Even if you test your web site with all the various browsers in existence on all the platforms in use (Mac, Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, etc) and find that it works perfectly in all, errors in your site reflect poorly on your skill as a web developer.

The issue is two-fold: firstly, a poorly coded web page reveals that either the web designer does not know his stuff or is a sloppy worker; secondly, it affects his marketability.

Originally Posted by Julian while others make assumptions about what the web designer was trying to achieve.

IE is famous for this. The moment it notices that you don't have a doctype (assuming you don't), it will render in Quirks mode, meaning it will try to "fix" your code but more often than not, it does more damage.