Gazetteer

Last week I expressed my concerns about the validation errors that Google Adsense code generated on another of my blogs The InterChange Desk.

While these errors are not due to any mis-coding on my part, I still pride myself on producing websites that conform to whatever W3C standard (and there are a number) I am working to.

My first attempt at designing websites when I started out in 1997 was with a WYSIWYG editor called Frontpage 97. Let’s just say it was a very short lived experience.

Not only couldn’t I make sense of the code Frontpage generated, the list of validation errors it produced was as long as my arm. And that comes from someone with long arms.

It was then I resolved to learn to code web documents manually, and after downloading and printing out the entire HTML 4.0 specification (it was almost the size of the Sydney phone directory), I set about teaching myself how to do things properly.

Web standards are really just another name for the technologies, XHTML and CSS for instance, that are used to create the web pages that make up blogs or websites.

Another way to look at web standards is to think of them as sets of rules, and the good news is it’s not very difficult to learn these rules.

And with that in mind, I have outlined five of my favourite reasons why you, as a blogger, or web designer, should also be working with web standards.

Standards increase a blog’s potential audience

Web standards promote a “level playing field” on the web. By using standards you are making your work available to the widest possible number of people. Remember not everyone is accessing the internet with a desktop computer and a studio display monitor.

Some people will be viewing your blog with their mobile or cell phone, other hand held devices, and some people will also be using braille browsers and screen readers. Web pages that adhere to the standards are far more likely to be visible to these viewers.

And we all want more readers.

Standards help future proof your blog

Using standards is a way of future proofing your site or blog. While support for some standards is still not complete in some of today’s browsers, that will change going forward.

It will become easier for browser manufacturers to offer support for established standards rather than a hotchpotch of proprietary code. So while some non compliant code may “work” now, that may not be the case in the future.

Finding coding related help is easier

Problem solving and seeking assistance is a lot easier when you work by the book.

If you’ve hit a hurdle and need to call on someone else for help, they will be better placed to offer advice if you are both working on the same page as it were, that is, with standards.

If not, then more time stands to be wasted while someone has to get their head around non specification, or proprietary, code.

Standards make your blog a better selling proposition

It seems everyone is selling blogs these days and the use of web standards could make your blog far more attractive should you ever consider selling it.

Using code that is uniform and consistent will make picking up, and carrying, on far easier for whoever takes possession of your templates and style sheets since, once again, everything is by the book.

Boost your employment prospects

It is not unknown for employers and head hunters to approach prospective workers through their blogs, or websites, and your use of standards can only bolster their favourable impressions of you.

Also, if you are considering a career in web design or development you will need to understand, and know how to work with, standards.

Employers are a lot more selective about standards knowledge than they were in the past, and just about every job ad I see for a designer today specifies a knowledge of web standards.

Having a portfolio of design work, including a blog, is one thing. Having a portfolio of work that is standards compliant is another thing all together though.

And even if an employer doesn’t specifically state a requirement for a standards compliant designer, being armed with an understanding of standards is bound to give you an edge over other applicants.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other reasons why anyone who has a blog or website should be working with web standards, and as I say, these are just my top five.

I’d certainly be interested to hear some other thoughts from other standards using bloggers!