What’s the deal with Web Standards?
Tags SEO,Standards,Website Design,Website Development - posted by Danilo Cort on 28 Jun, 2007 04:09 pm
In this installment, Dan Cort provides insight into Web Standards and why they are becoming increasingly important.
Imagine if each household appliance came with a different plug, and when you bought it you had to adapt a socket in your house for it. That would become chaotic, wouldn’t it? Fortunately there is a STANDARD plug for every household appliance. So if you buy a micro system in Auckland, you can take it to Christchurch and it will work normally. I offer this example so we can realize the value of standards. On the Internet it is no different, we need to have standards to realize the full potential of the Web. To turn this dream into reality, a project called WaSP (Web Standards Project) came to spread the Web Standards with the organization which is behind these, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
What are the benefits of having a standards compliant Website?
Standards compliance helps ensure that everyone has access to the information you are providing on your Website, and also makes access to it faster and more flexible. WaSP defines these Web Standards on their website:
“Standards compliance makes it easier for people with special needs to use the Web. Blind people may have their computer read web pages to them. People with poor eyesight may have pages rearranged and magnified for easier reading. And people using hand-held devices can browse the Web just as easily as those using high-end workstations.”
Also if your Webpages are complied with Web standards, they have greater visibility in Web searches. According to WaSP, the structural information present in compliant documents makes it easy for search engines to access and evaluate the information in those documents, and they get indexed more accurately. Read Daniel’s previous posts about SEO to understand this more.
Accessibility is also really important for Websites. After all, if you have a Website certainly you want it to be viewed by everyone, including people with disabilities and people using browsers other than the usual ones – including voice browsers (which read Webpages aloud to people), Braille browsers (that translate text into Braille), hand-held browsers (with very little monitor space) and other unusual output devices.
Conclusion
As a Web Development company, MaxGen Media are constantly bringing the best, newest and coolest technologies to our clients, and Web Standards are one of them. The W3C explains why you should buy a standards compliant Website, so before you move forward with a Web designer its wise to pay attention to what you are buying and the quality offered by the company. 
on 06 Jul 2007 at 10:42 pm 1. Lee James said …
Yes i totally agree with you Danilo. A great post, keep them coming.
on 26 Feb 2008 at 8:35 am 2. SEO - IP addresses, domain names and you | Blog | MaxGen Media said …
[...] you tried hard to get top search engine ranking by following various optimisation guides, but no matter how many keywords you place on your Website it is still deemed invisible by [...]
on 17 Apr 2008 at 2:44 pm 3. Angeline said …
W3C Standards compliant websites are very important.
Technology changes frequently, it is important to keep up with technology.
for example operating systems, software, hardware in order for a website to be compatible web deasigners must keep up with the latest recommendations from the World Wide Web.
As well as Web Content Accessibilty Guidelines to make web pages accessible to people with various disabilities.
A disabled person can make a claim against you if your website makes it impossible or unreasonably to access information and services. If you have not made reasonable adjustments, then you may be liable under section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act, and may have to pay compensation and ordered by a court to change your site.
In general, for a website to comply with accessibility standards, they should at least have the following:
(X)HTML Validation from the World Wide Web Consortium W3C for the pages content
CSS Validation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for the pages layout
at least WAI-AA or AAA compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
compliance with all guidelines from Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, for government websites
Access keys built into the HTML
Semantic Web Markup
A high contrast version of the site for individuals with low vision
Alternative media for any multimedia used on the site (video, flash, audio, etc)