Tim Berners-Lee’s 1989 creation of the World Wide Web highlighted the need for a regulatory entity to standardize websites due to their increasing proliferation. In response, he founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 1994. Its central objective was to guide the Web’s growth by formulating protocols and guidelines, ensuring continual development. These standards maintain consistency between website design and code, underscoring their deep importance online. This piece explores the profound significance of these standards within the Web domain.
What are Web Standards?
Web Standards function as a set of guidelines that Web Designers and Developers adhere to, aiming to guarantee the creation of user-friendly and inclusive websites across various devices. These guidelines encompass a diverse array of subjects, encompassing Web Design Applications, Web Architecture, and Web Semantics, all of which contribute to a more accessible online experience for all users, regardless of their device of choice. Following Web Standards when building business websites not only enhances their accessibility but also safeguards them for future compatibility with various web browsers. Some recent Web Technologies have emerged without considering Web Standards, often leading to poor coding practices and broken sites.
Why are Web Standards Important?
The Web provides free and open information, allowing anyone to share content publicly. Regardless of how users connect, ensuring universal access to this information is vital. Web Standards play a crucial role in achieving this. A few key reasons for their importance are outlined below.
Making The Web a More Accessible Place
Web standards are key in making websites work smoothly with assistive tools. These standards allow browser creators and web developers to include special instructions on their pages. Assistive technologies then understand these instructions, ensuring a consistent or even improved user experience. Recent updates have enhanced how websites respond when users navigate using a keyboard, making it easier to move around and know their location on a page. While designers still prefer to customize these features, the built-in improvements are a positive step forward.
Keep The Web Free And Accessible To All
The Web Standards community is vital because it prevents us from depending solely on browser makers to shape the Web. Without standards, browsers would dictate what the Web looks like. Fortunately, today’s browsers have useful accessibility features, though not flawless. The big browser companies are now moving in a similar direction. This unity simplifies life for developers and enhances the user experience.
Backward Compatibility And Validation
Web standards provide a base that lets new websites following these standards function on older web browsers. Backward compatibility, which means making new things work on older tech, is vital for keeping the Web available to everyone, especially those who don’t update their browsers. Older browsers might display your content differently, but the standards ensure that the basic structure of your webpage is recognized and shown correctly.
Easier to Maintain
Designers and Developers play a key role in crafting websites that are simple to keep up. Writing code in a neat and meaningful manner enhances its readability. HTML5 support in major browsers, and new tags like header, footer, and nav enable clearer element descriptions. The code should be clear, allowing other Designers or Developers to edit it easily. Constructing pages ensures that others can comprehend how the website was built, enabling them to add new features similarly. Adding comments to the code explains specific code sections, aiding understanding and future reference. Proper code indentation enhances readability and helps spot unclosed elements.
Ensure Backwards Browser Compatibility
Websites need to work even in older web browsers. A good rule is to make sure a website functions well in the current browser version and the two versions before it. It should still be usable in older browsers but might not have all the fancy features of newer ones, and the design might not look perfect due to changes in styling. Microsoft ended support for Internet Explorer versions before IE11 in 2016. Also, major browsers now update automatically, so users usually have the latest version. It allows for adding more cool features to a website using built-in browser tools.
Increase Search Engine Rankings
Creating a website with well-structured HTML that makes sense to search engines can boost its visibility in search results. Adhering to Web Standards ensures search engine bots understand and index the code correctly. Additionally, using meaningful CSS class names on HTML elements helps search engines guess the content. It’s crucial to choose class names that describe the content rather than just how it looks. This approach improves the website’s chances of being found by search engines and appearing higher in search rankings.
Create a More Stable Web
Adhering to Web Standards when designing websites ensures their dependability and effective performance on various devices. With the surge in mobile device usage, people frequently use their phones for web browsing. Due to limited 3G or 4G connection data, websites must be optimized for quick loading and minimal data consumption. This optimization ensures fast loading and prevents excessive data use, particularly on mobile phones. Following Web Standards assures seamless website functioning on different devices, particularly on data-limited mobiles.
Coding Practices
The Internet has three main coding languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (JS). Dividing these languages into separate files speeds up page loading because they can load alongside the main content. CSS links are placed at the top of a web page in the head section to style the page as content loads. JS files are added using a script tag, which can halt content loading until the JS file is loaded. If the file is missing, the page stops loading altogether. Adding these tags at the bottom of an HTML file ensures full content loads before JS. Keeping element class names minimal and focused on content, not appearance, helps avoid complex code.
Web Accessibility and the Equality Act 2010 (UK)
Web Accessibility is a pivotal part of Web Standards, ensuring that every website is user-friendly for everyone, regardless of their device or disabilities. In places like the UK, it’s legally mandated by the Equality Act 2010, obliging website owners to ensure inclusivity for people with disabilities. For example, websites require clear text-background contrast for readability. Avoiding color pairs like red-blue, which can be tough to read, is vital. Moreover, descriptive link text, instead of ‘click here,’ enhances accessibility. These are only a few aspects of the comprehensive Web Accessibility Standards. Its significance is such that I’ll dedicate an entire post to delve into it further.
Conclusion
Web Standards are essential for creating user-friendly and accessible websites across devices. They ensure compatibility, maintain stability, and support a seamless online experience. By adhering to these standards, designers and developers contribute to a more inclusive and navigable digital landscape. Furthermore, the emphasis on Web Accessibility underscores the importance of making the Web open to all, regardless of disabilities. Following these standards remains pivotal for a cohesive and sustainable online environment as technology evolves.
