Blog » Web: Ten steps forwards
- Posted: Oct 13th 2004, 01:27
As I consider it an essential issue to read up on debates regarding standards in the world wide web. It is without wonder that I discovered an article on Asterisk, called Web Standards = 100% Validation?, where he says, does Web standards mean validation and nothing less?
I read the comments, which amused me highly, to see the debate heat up increasingly. It saddens me when people always become excessively meticulous over bad spelling. I’m a good debater, and I hate it when people lose track of the real issues. Personally, I’m all for progress. I have been known for accidentally forgetting about ampersands and other entities but I strive and strive to earn a pittance as a web systems programmer. I applaud their efforts; it is the way forward, which will help people in my field attain true fulfilment.
After reading the article, I found a further article on Rich’s blog which summed things up for me:
Do not jump into XHTML transitional because it is the cool thing to do, you should first aim to learn about the semantic web, what tags are, and are not allowed, and how accessibility is affected with certain tags…
…The era of the all in one web designer and developer is ending; the two aspects of the Internet should be treated separately. Master one and get help with the other. Do not try to go for both at once, a poor designer and a poor programmer makes for a bad developer, a good programmer and a good designer can learn from each other, and produce better websites to boot.
Moreover, this is it. Taking gradually enlightening steps to our goals. Walking before flying, in the knowledge that all our achievements have been awarded worthwhile on our slow, and sure, ascendancy to the top rung of the ladder. I think we ought to take a few steps back every now and then to see where we really have taken things. I try my absolute best to achieve the standards that I follow. People definitely deserve appreciation when it’s due.
I think I have one niggle though. People often refer to validation and the W3C validator as if they were the same thing. No. Validation against a DOCTYPE is something that can be done ourselves. Of course there are many standards to validate against. I wish to outline several standards that may, or may not, be of importance to you:
- XHTML & HTML validation,
- accessibility validation,
- company standards (I know I work to a drafted and re-drafted programming policy),
- and your peers.
I know this may seem like a vague list but it rings true for me every time. I believe that my peers are the guiding factor. The peers closest to me - i.e. my partners in design - have the greatest influence; but the people who inspire me have given me food for thought and will continue to aid my development.
Update: I have, in the past, expressed some OTT and purist views regarding the progress of web standards. I have no problems with Joe and his stance in the world of standards. I applaud him, most seriously. I expect he thinks I was sniffing some magic dust or smoking a crack pipe. I most probably was. It’s definitely time to sit back and listen to a little bit of Mozart before we dive in with over-zealous remarks.