Web Standards
Web Standards, some would argue, may be the most important aspect of web design, above even the design and layout itself. Web Standards help to ensure that your site is viewable on different devices and platforms and is more easily adapted as new technology arises. Web Standards also help immensely with search engine optimization as the content within the code is easier to read.
Web Standards are essentially an agreement between the programming code in your site and the devices (browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, cell phones and PDA’s) displaying that code. The agreement is that the content will be displayed and work the same or at least similarly with any past, present and future device.
Web Standards also ensure that content is accessible to people with disabilities who cannot access your site through traditional means. Without a standards compliant site you will lose visitors and thereby lose sight of one of your primary reasons for building a site in the first place. To have people visit your site and see what you have to offer.
The statistics show that Internet Explorer and Firefox are the two most popular browsers, but there are many other browsers out there and there are also different versions of each browser. With all of these different browsers and different versions, your website is likely to not look the same. Therefore, it has become commonplace in the Web Development world to ensure that a site looks the same across these different browsers and Web Standards helps with this.
If a web developer is not developing with Web Standards in mind then they are not on the leading edge of where the web is headed and that means your web site is not all that it could be.
