Website standards, conformance and validation

Now we're getting in to technicalities here, which is likely to start getting boring to anyone but the most die-hard web coding geeks - but bear with us, because if you're in the market for a new website, this is something you need to consider...

The W3C is the 'Worldwide Web Consortium' - an international body set up to lay down standards in web design and programming. The need for this standard was brought about by the increasing prevalence of web browsers and the different ways in which they interpret the code that makes up any site on the web.

Ensuring websites look right, whatever browsers are being used...

The predominant language of the web is 'html' - and like any spoken language, there are many different ways of saying things with one meaning. How a programmer writes a line of code can be interpreted one way by Internet Explorer - and totally differently by Firefox browsers.

No more holding websites together with sticky-tape and glue

So a method of programming was developed using 'style sheets' to separate the content of sites from the way they are designed - ensuring that anyone programming a website in this way gets maximum compatibiltiy across all platforms and software used to view websites - from Internet Explorer on PCs to Safari browsers on Macs to PDAs, mobile phones and screen text readers. Build a website using 'valid' code and it will display properly on whatever device it's viewed on.

W3C valid sites as standard

Until recently 'W3C validation', as it's known, was little more than squabbling between programmers and designers. But now, with the increasing multitude of ways to view websites (e.g. on mobiles, PDAs, etc.) and with the increasing prevalence of alternative browsers to Internet Explorer, we have taken the decision to ensure our sites are W3C valid as standard.

Separating the professionals from the part-timers:

Ensuring validity means hours of extra work for us on each site we build, with little visible evidence at the front end. But the benefits are worthwhile to our clients - both in terms of cross-platform compatibility and in search-engine optimisation (search engines look more favourably on W3C valid sites). When choosing an agency to provide your website, make sure you demand W3C validation as standard - you'll soon separate the true professionals from the multitude of part-timers and amateurs.

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