HTML and CSS - W3C standards code validation
The
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was
created to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members
in the adoption of new internet based standards. It provides free online tools to
validate html pages. These tools (called validators) read the
submitted web page and validate it in respect to the rules the page wants
to conform to.
The main tools can be found at http://validator.w3.org. It is
very easy to use: all you need to do is enter the URL of the page
you want to validate, click “Check” and wait for the results. If the
validation fails you're given a list of the validation errors, detailing
where the errors are in your page and giving you an explanation of
the possible nature of the error.
It is estimated that 99% of the websites pages on the internet are not valid!
Lamar Web websites are all XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS compliant.
Some pages may contain different technologies which should all be
validated in respect to their own rules. For example there is the
validation for
CSS (Cascade Style Sheet) which is used to provide the browser
with the information necessary to correctly present the graphics and textual styles of the
site.
It is important to create web sites which are compliant to the web
standards for the following reasons:
- Accessibility - The W3C web standard include all of the requirements for accessibility across all browsers. A web sites with valid code, is closer to being a fully accessible site.
- Multiple Devices - If your site adheres to the most recent W3C CSS standards your site will be accessible across multiple device platforms (e.g. mobile phones, slate PCs, netbooks)
- Faster Pages - Concise and clear HTML code makes web pages smaller in size, making the web page and the overall website faster to download, resulting in a better user experience
- Less Bandwidth - Bandwidth has a cost. Reducing the amount of useless information in the code reduces the use of bandwidth and therefore cost
- Better User Interaction - Websites not adhering to W3C standards may not be represented properly on all devices/browsers giving users a bad experience. Some features may work in Microsoft Internet Explorer for example, but not work in Mozilla Firefox giving a different user experience on different browsers in terms of functionality and website layout.
- Improved Compatibility - A web site built meeting the W3C standards can be seamlessly integrated with more external applications
- Planned Future Growth - For projects which are meant to last and grow in time, compliance to the W3C standards is a must in order to be able to dynamically grow an existing website without integration and compatibility issues with old site code.
- Easier Maintenance - A site built in conformity to the W3C standards, is manageable and updatable by any developer.