What are Web Standards?
Website Standards are set in place to guide developers, designers, and online marketers to proper, high quality standards that ensure easy navigation, fast loading time, and easy accessibility for all viewers, as well as optimizing content for Search Engines, Indexing each Website Page. The World Wide Consortium (W3C) is the worldwide standard and precedent for all web standards. This includes large in depth, technical standard for Web design, Web applications, Graphics, HTML & CSS, Internalizations, Accessibility, Audio and Video Standards, Browsers and Authoring Tools, Semantic Web, Web Architecture, XML Technology, and the list goes on and on. If a website developer does not follow web standards you will be able to view the list of website errors in the W3C Website Validation Service, W3C CSS Validation Service, and WDG HTML Validator. The Mission of the W3C is to enable a Web for All (breach the barrios of language, disability, network infrastructure, culture, geographical location, hardware, software etc.) to enable better human communication and sharing of knowledge. The mission also includes making the Web accessible to everything including mobile devices, smart phones, interactive television systems, kiosks, voice response systems, etc.Web standards are intended to be a common foundation for the World Wide Web to understand the same basic language or vocabulary. The Standards basically cover the Structural Languages (XHTML, XML, etc), Presentation Languages (Cascading Style Sheets-CSS), Object Models, Scripting Languages, Addition Presentation Languages (Markup)
Benefits for the Website Owner
- Lower Cost of Production-quicker production time (Lower Cost of Production),Dramatically Lower costs for Bandwidth and Hosting
- Prevent Future Maintenance-Simplified Development and Maintenance means it is easy for other developers to understand programming code for changes in development, styling, or layout
- Competitive Advantage- Receive financial benefits from complying with web standards over your competition by increasing website speed, usability, functionality, security, etc, to ensure your satisfied clients and potential customers.
- Easier for Developers- Any knowledgeable developer can understand and alter code; therefore you are less dependable on one single developer.
- SEO Friendly-Not only is your website more accessibly and user friendly for you targeted audience it is also optimized and easy to index/navigate by Search Engines. Tremendous Search Engine Optimization and Ranking Potential
- Long-Term Viability-You are ensured a long-term viability of any web document or application
- Accessibility-Federal and State Government sites require the website to meet W3C standards in order to be Section 508 compliant
- Privacy and Security- Website can be built on secure frameworks to ensure authentication and privacy. For example XML signature, encryption, and xkms can help create a secure environment for XML.
- Increased Potential Market Share-Increased viewers may result in higher conversion and more referrals.
- Public Relations- Your site will gain a more trustable, authentic reputation by demonstrating a social responsibility to promote web standards as well as demonstrating corporate social responsibility. Reduce legal action and negative publicity.
- For Online Merchants/Ecommerce Websites- Customers are more likely to utilize your website if your online shopping carts are accessible on a secure, trustworthy shopping interface.
Benefits for the Website Viewer (Your Targeted Audience)
- Improves the User Experience- Pages load quicker and more responsive, which means that users do not get impatient waiting for your site to download (The quicker the page load, the more likely the potential customer will stick with your website to view your services instead of growing impatient and moving on to your competitors website.)
- Increased Accessibility for All- for users with disabilities (blind users, vision impaired users, dyslexic users, motor skill impaired users, etc) – Content is accessible to a wider range of devices (screen readers, browsers, text based browsers, hand-held’s, search robots, printers, etc.)
- Viewable to Wide Range of Devices- The site is not only designed for and viewable by multiple web browsers only, it is also stable across mobile devices, iPod Touch, iPad, Smart Phones,etc. (Always updating as new technology improves)-As new updated web browsers or devices evolve, your website will viewable making your audience reach more dynamic
- Print Friendly- It also provides print friendly versions for all website pages
Here are a few resources in a categorized outline of Web Standards accourding to the W3C standards…
Web for All:
Web for Everything:
Web for Rich Interaction:
Web of Data and Services
Web of Trust:
