Why Use Web Standards?

Do you want your web site to look good and work well with all browsers? Of course you do. Then web standards are important to you. Back in the olden days, well the late 1990s when the web was in its toddlerhood, most every browser used a different proprietary web format. This was not a great practice but it was not frowned upon because everyone was just learning about the Internet and individuality and independence was the norm. However, as more and more people began using the web it created the need for more and more web developers. Likewise, new browsers were developed, some merged, and some disappeared all together. All these changes created a sort of rat’s nest of web formats.

Multiple web formats makes web development complicated which always increases the costs associated with the initial development because multiple versions of the same site must be developed. However, the increase in costs is not limited to the initial development because over the life time of the site multiple formats must also be supported and maintained. You might think this is crazy talk and to control costs you can support one or two web formats, but do you choose which ones to support and which ones to ignore. I don’t know if you realize this, but by choosing to ignore certain formats you are by default choosing to ignore the web users whose browser is using that format. Can you afford to ignore potential customers or users? I didn’t think so.

There is an easy way to avoid having to choose what web formats to support or not support, and it is a simple decision, use the standard web format put form by the Web Standards Project. The web standards that were developed (and continue to be developed) in the WaSP ensures going forward that by using these coding standards a web site will work with any web browser. You won’t have to make the choice of what to support or not support. You put lots of time, energy, and money into coding your web site and you want it to be attractive and user friendly and available to everyone. By using these web standards when you code you won’t have to worry about browsers, you just have to worry about almost everything else.