Web standards

Introductory articles

  • About web standards
    An introduction to web standards from the Web Standards Group.

  • Introduction to device independence
    Several years ago the only way to work with a web site was through a personal computer. But in the past three to four years the number of different kinds of devices that can access the web has increased significantly. The mission of the device independence activity of the W3C is to avoid fragmentation of the Web into spaces that are accessible only from certain types of devices.

  • The learning curve of web standards
    Web standards have passed the stations of the innovators and the early adopters. Right now the early majority of the industry is ready to adopt the new stuff. Say you are one of those people. You are convinced you should use web standards and prepared yourself by absorbing as much information as you could from the web and from books. But now you are standing at the doorstep of doing your first standards compliant design, suddenly everything seems a bit daunting.

Discussion articles

  • A web standards checklist
    The term web standards can mean different things to different people. For some, it is 'table-free sites', for others it is 'using valid code'. However, web standards are much broader than that. A site built to web standards should adhere to standards (HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, XSLT, DOM, MathML, SVG etc) and pursue best practices (valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, user-friendly URLs etc).

  • Converting your team
    Being the only person on a team of web designers and developers who knows or cares about web standards is probably very common. I’m sure many of you feel like you’re fighting all alone, and that taking a stand for web standards costs you a lot of energy. I’d like to share some of the things I’ve done (and still do) to get the team I work with to start using web standards. Maybe it will help someone who is in the position I was a while back.

  • Designing with web standards
    Presentation notes from Jeffrey Zeldman.

  • Developing with web standards: recommendations and best practices
    "This document explains 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 websites that are accessible to as many as possible."
    (Roger Johansson)

  • Embracing best practice
    Web standards are a small but vital part of a larger solution, something I like to think of as web development best practice.

  • Form layout with CSS: a short literature study
    Today almost any layout is possible with CSS, however complex forms are still quite a challenge. Laying out forms is a complex subject, because you have to consider arguments about accessibilty, usability and semantics. But the biggest disagreement is about the semantic correctness of using tables for form layout.

  • The beauty and business of CSS
    Building designs with CSS is no longer a fringe activity practiced by standards geeks and early-adopters. Creative pioneers and highly skilled designers are bringing CSS to the mainstream. The explosion in popularity is ushering in a new wave of possibilities for web design. CSS provides greater design control, allows more flexibility, and enables sites to become attractive, accessible, and faster-loading, all at the same time.

  • The business benefits of web standards
    "More with less" seems to be the mission impossible for web designers: Addressing more customers, a broader audience, more diversity in terms of browsers, more accessibility, users asking for more speed, while spending less to maintain or redesign a web site. Caught between a rock and a hard place, web designers face a formidable challenge. Yet they are finding an unsuspected ally in the battle: web standards.

  • The effect of web standards on users
    The discussions concerning web standards have never been hotter: some view that there is too much focus on them, and not enough on users.

  • The sagacity in validation
    Validation is exclusively a tool to assess if you have "done things right", but is by no means a way to determine if you "did the right things".

  • Web design going in the wrong direction?
    There's way too much talk about CSS and XHTML and standards and accessibility and not enough talk about people. CSS and Standards Compliant Code are just tools--you have to know what to build with these tools. Great, I'm glad your UI doesn't use tables. So what? Who cares if it still doesn’t let people achieve their goals. Web standards are great, but people's own standards include getting things done (and that's still too hard to do online).

  • Web development mistakes
    The web is overflowing with sites that use horribly invalid, broken, and inaccessible markup. Even sites built by people who have been in the web business for many years, and who really should know better, are full of problems that shouldn’t be there.

  • Web standards for business
    This article highlights the benefits of using web standards for business sites (Internet, intranet and extranet sites). It is aimed at stakeholders from the marketing, communication and IT departments.

  • Web standards ROI
    Is there anyone out there who still doubts the real world benefits of developing with seb standards? If so I’ve got some pretty compelling evidence for you. Especially when it comes to the benefits of CSS based design. I’m going to show you some actual numbers that show pretty clearly the Return On Investment (ROI) of going with web standards.

  • Why standards harmonization is essential to web accessibility
    "This document explains the key role that harmonization of standards plays in increasing the accessibility of the Web for people with disabilities. It examines how adoption of a consistent set of international technical standards, the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines for Web content, authoring tools, browsers and media players can drive more rapid progress on Web accessibility, and make the design and development of accessible Web sites more efficient."
    (Judy Brewer - W3C)

  • The way forward with web standards
    Even though web standards are being embraced by many web authors, some businesses are reluctant to invest in standards-based web sites without concrete reasons to do so. To help web authors interested in advocating web standards, this article assembles arguments and information about web standards into one document and explains web standards in terms of how they affect business.

Interviews

Books and book reviews

  • More Eric Meyer on CSS
    Eric has chosen his project topics well, picking up on current design trends and new CSS techniques and applying them to simple but realistic examples.

  • Web Standards Solutions: the Markup and Style Handbook
    In Designing with Web Standards, author Jeffrey Zeldman’s case for web standards was open and shut. Dan Cederholm’s book Web Standards Solutions: the Markup and Style Handbook, is the logical extension for the converted (those of you who believe using web standards to build web sites is a must) who want to learn some tips and techniques to use in your web design work and play. Where Zeldman is like your dad, helping you understand right and wrong in the world of web design, Cederholm is like your big brother. He shares his secrets to success and challenges you to take your new knowledge and experiment.