Web Standards
Why Use Web Standards?
There are two main ways to construct a XHTML website. There is the traditional
table method and the newer web standards method. I construct all my sites
using the superior web standards methodology. This is the same methodology
referred to in a recent Business
Week article.
What are Web Standards?
Web standards sites are sites built following the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) recommendations for website construction. Web Standards sites are
constructed using XHTML and CSS.
The guiding principle behind standards-based construction is that there
should be a separation between the page content and how it is displayed.
Page content… the text, links, and images are contained in a XHTML
file. How and where the text, images, and links are displayed are controlled
by a separate CSS file. While for each web page there is a separate XHTML
file, there is typically is one global CSS file that is referenced by
every page. The beauty of this is that site-wide changes in the way the
site looks can be made just by modifying the CSS file. Traditional table
based websites are not nearly so flexible since the look and feel are
intertwined with the content of the site. Simple site-wide changes to
the way a traditional table based displays content frequently requires
that every page needs to be updated, a time consuming and expensive process.
But Wait There’s More…
In addition to being quicker and cheaper to modify and maintain, web
standards based sites offer the following advantages:
- Web standards sites are lighter in terms of page size in bytes than
table based sites. This is due to the style coding being removed from
the the individual web pages. The benefit to the site owner is that
the pages load faster and reduce bandwidth costs on web hosting. - Standards based sites naturally promote a consistent look and feel
to an entire site due to the use of a global stylesheet. - Web standards sites are more flexible since unique style sheets can
be set up for different devices or needs. Need a high contrast version
of the site for visitors who are visually impaired; want to allow visitors
to print the site pages in a print friendly format without creating
separate printer friendly page for every page of the site? A print
only style sheet makes this possible. How about a slimmed down version
of the site that displays on a device such as a phone… once again
it’s style sheets to the rescue with a special phone optimized version
of the site. - Web standards sites are more accessible to visually impaired visitors
due to their better support of screen readers. - Web standards sites are more likely to rank higher in search engine
listings since it is easier for the search engine spiders to read and
categorize the page content. - Web standards sites tend to display more consistently across different
web browsers and browser versions. Due to the way browsers work, they
interpret the XHTML code and CSS information. Because of this sites
will likely have minor differences when displayed in different browsers.
In the past traditionally constructed sites often required separate
pages for different browsers or “this page best view with disclaimers”.
The obvious problems with these approaches was that they either required
the extra cost of developing a separate web page for a specific browser
or that they potentially required the visitor install a new version
or different browser to simply view a page!
Why Aren’t All Sites Built Using Web Standards?
Typically there are three reasons.
- The site was constructed before web standards were popular and well
understood. Web standards are the most modern way to construct web
sites. There was a time when the traditional table based methodology
was the only method available. - A content management system not supporting web standards can be a
hindrance to progressing to web standards. - Finally, learning web standards requires designers and developers
used to building sites the old fashioned table based way to completely
relearn the way they build web sites. As with any change in the way
one works there is a learning curve that requires time and effort to
overcome. That said, many web designers and developers have taken the
plunge and are reaping the benefits for their clients.
It’s the Only Way I Build ‘em!
With all the benefits to using web standards, it’s the only way I build
em! I pride myself on staying current with the web development technologies
and offering my clients the best possible website and website experience
for their customers, while saving money on future maintenance and hosting
bandwidth costs.
