The Importance of Web Design Standards
Date: 22/08/2006
Maintaining a website designed using web standards is easy. The XHTML is very simple and so logical that it doesnt make any sense to continue using the complex and chaotic markup documents created with traditional page layout methods. If we look deeper into the global effect this has on the World Wide Web then you will see that easily maintainable XHTML documents also translate effectively into almost every internet-enabled device. This means that we no longer have to create several versions of each website to satisfy different audiences. EyePlot Digital produce all their web design work to web standards as it also opens up new audiences that have largely been ignored by traditional website design methods, and in addition to results in better optimisation for the search engines. This all adds up to a more successful, effective website.
The explosion of mobile phone technology and it's popularity is a good example of this. Almost everyone reading this article will have a mobile or PDA and a good majority of these devices will have access to the Internet. However, if this is the case then why isn't everyone using these devices to browse the World Wide Web? The answer comes down to traditional website development techniques; simply put the websites of today are simply not built to cater for tomorrow's technology. Had web standards been followed from the beginning, back when website development took off, those internet-enabled devices could be used to browse the web today.
It is not just mobile phones and PDAs that benefit from web standards, however. Audio screen readers for the visually impaired also take advantage of the clean, structured XHTML documents. Any future browser or Internet-based technology that can read HTML will also be able to understand these markup documents. In this current period of web development we are forced to re-develop our websites every few years due to incompatiblities with new technological advancements.
For more information on web design standards and how they are implemented call us at EyePlot on 0870 99 05 188, or send us an e-mail.
