Standards Based Web Design
Validation is your friend
erhaps in your searches you've heard about using standards based design, being able to develop a site to work across most browser platforms, and in a perfect world across many mediums as well. Your web site should be built using the latest standards and the best coding possible, so that visitors to your site will see a clean, professional design, that will look the same no matter which browser they might be using. Also, users with handicaps should also be able to use your site, without limitation.
What standards are out there?
There are three key aspects that you'll want to ensure are done correctly. First, is the basic coding of your page. The best type of code to utilize at this time is XHTML and is at Version 1.1 currently. You'll notice that each page on this site is fully compliant with this standard. Next will be your CSS or Cascading Style Sheets. This feature works with XHTML to dictate layout and visual design, and as you can see, all of our style sheets are fully validated as well. Finally, and becoming much more important as design tools get more complex is what is known as the Web Accessibility Initiative. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities. This is the final, and in our opinion one of the most important initiatives that are becoming main stream in the Web Design World.
Why is it important?
You may be asking yourself why this is important. Now more than ever, people use the internet to find companies or resources to help them solve a problem. If your web site doesn't work in a particular browser, or if your site cannot be viewed by a blind person, you could be limiting your market of customers, and giving a poor impression to those that do visit your site.
If your organization receives federal funds, then you must create a site that is Section 508 compliant, or you risk losing those funds. While the threat of losing federal funding can be concerning, it should be most important to your company that you not alienate any possible visitor of your site and make your web site just as accessible as your store or office.
What is validation?
To check your whether your site is using valid code, simply visit W3C HTML Validator to validate your HTML code, and visit W3C CSS Validator to validate your CSS coding. By validating your web site code, you can be sure that your site is using compliant HTML and CSS to provide a consistent look and feel across all browsers. Validation checks your site code against the standards that have been developed by W3C or the World Wide Web Consortium.
Can it improve my web sites' performance?
Now, after all this talk of why, and how, the final question is whether proper code can improve site performance. The answer is a resounding yes!! By using proper validated code your site will load faster, and with greater ease in your web browser. This final piece is a great reason on it's own to create a site with Validated Code. Faster loading pages, a clean look and design, and a completely accessible site will allow your company to move forward quickly and efficiently as your take your web site ahead with your business.
Now What?
In our next article, we'll discuss Search Engine Optimization, and what you can do to build a site that will respond well in all search engines.
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News
We are proud to announce the launch of the new Grindstone Technology web site.
We are proud to announce the launch of the new web site for TyrrellTech Inc.
We are proud to announce the launch of the new Augenix Coporation web site.
We are proud to announce the launch of RNSNetwork.org. The Rheumatology Nurse's Society.
Visit our online portfolio for a full list of our latest designs.