[thelist] RE: The need for IE-only sites?

[Luther, Ron]

Diane Soini asks:

>>But DO standards ACTUALLY matter? 


Hi Diane,

(Sez Ron who has a *really* strong feeling he should have read the rest 
of this thread before replying. Oh well. La Vie!)

In and of themselves? Nope. Standards don't matter a whit.

If you can build an acessible page that 'works' for your client's 
customers, meets all of their feature requirements, and doesn't cause 
dialup customers to run screaming from the load time ... then standards 
be damned ... you will get paid for your efforts and have an enthusiastic 
client to back up the 'success' story you tell your next prospective 
client.

However ... adherence to standards can be an effective and efficient 
PATH [1] to getting that page to 'work' for the end customers. Shying 
away from proprietary features for core functionality will reduce the 
number of needed hacks and spaghetti code to get things working ... 
which makes it easier for you (or others) to incorporate those inevitable 
changes/enhancements that will come down the road.

Clients may not always be l337 web-speak savvy, but they are generally 
a bit knowledgable about their business ... and their business is to 
make money or provide a service. They may give you 'Bambi in the 
headlights' eyes if you sputter "B-b-but that doesn't meet the latest 
i18n recommendations!" in response to their latest scope creep request 
... but they actually do understand that putting the door of their 
brick and mortar 11' off the sidewalk without stairs, a ladder, or an 
electric lift *might* cut down a bit on walk-in trade a weensie bit.

Its up to you to provide the client with the reasons why they _want_ 
you to design to standards.  I find that's a bit more effective than 
standing behind the counter at 'McWeb Design' and asking clients ...
"Do you want standards with that?"


Cheers,

RonL.

[1] See - I didn't actually *say* ROI. ;-)