[thelist] Re: Why code for standards

[worte at gmx.at]

> From: Shoshannah Forbes <xslf at xslf.com>
>
> Anyone have by chance some good answers or URLs to give those people, in
> order to get them at least *consider* valid code as an option?
>
> If you try to use valid code in your project- why do you do so?

I don't code for standards, I code for people. None of my visitors care
whether the site conforms to some geek's wet dream or not; they just want to use
the site in whatever browser they happen to be running at the time.  The code
under the hood of a websites is not a goal in and of itself; it's just a
means to an end. Valid HTML doesn't automagically make a great website, it
doesn't by default make a site accessible, it doesn't make it more usable.

Sometimes a harmless little non-valid attribute can make the site easier to
use for some visitors. Sometimes perfectly valid HTML combined with good CSS
can break the site for some or even most browsers - IE5 box model bug,
anyone? So you have to know the browsers inside out, not just naively churn out
code that makes the validators happy.

I primarily use valid HTML for my projects because it's a lot easier to
maintain, and it satisfies my geeky heart. But it doesn't bother me in the least
to use a trickling of proprietary gobbledygook if I think it'll help those
visitors that are stuck with non-compliant browsers. They're in the majority
anyway.


Matthias

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