Web standards

The Web Standards Project is a collective initiative of Web Professionals (developers, designers, etc) that sets a set of ground rules that enforce website accessibility and usability.  These rules, or guidelines, are collectively known as the Web Standards.

You can think of the Web Standards like any other standard which ensures the quality and function of a product – for example, car seatbelts.  Would you consider purchasing a car lacking seatbelts? Most likely this question sounds absurd, because a car without seatbelts is very dangerous, and it is not conceivable buying a car without them. Seatbelts, then, are de-facto accessories to a car, limiting its use, function and trustworthiness, if not available. The use of Web Standards is analogous to that example. Lack of adherence to Web Standards can, and will, cause issues with a website.

You might have visited a website with different browsers (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) and notice different results. The Web Standards aim at eliminating those differences and make user experience universal and equal, regardless of how they access the Web. Operating systems, devices, location and physical/mental abilities should make no difference whatsoever to Web experience.

• Web Standards are being applied by two different, but collaborating, sides:
• Web professionals, who design and developed applications for the web and
• The Browser companies (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Mozilla, Google Chrone, and others).
• Web professionals, who follow Web Standards, make sure that any code they write fully conforms to the guidelines. For their part, the browser companies make sure that their products are fully compatible with the Standards.

At Zefxis, all of our design and development work strictly follows the Web Standards. We know that this is extremely beneficial for everybody: us, you, and your visitors. Your website will ‘stay around’ for longer, will be easier and less costly to manage and update, will work very well with search engines, will be more usable and will not hinder anyone from accessing it.   Plainly, it is to your advantage that your website follows the Web Standards.  Here is why, in more detail:

Increase your site’s longevity

The introduction of new Web Technologies in the near (or far) future will respect the standardized way with which your website has been designed. Thus, more devices and manufacturers will continue to support it, saving you the cost of writing new code from the beginning. 

Manage your website easily

If a set of uniform guidelines is followed when designing a website, the professionals working on it become more efficient and productive.  This greatly reduces costs incurred to you, and provides a clear, comprehensible working area for website management by different staff.

Update with ease

It is an industry-wide rule that professional websites require a design overhaul once in a while.  When a website has been designed with full compatibility with the Web Standards, any desired update will be faster and easier to apply. In effect, it will be less costly to its owner, while at the same time evolve to new, fresher versions with a faster speed.

Optimise for Search Engines

Website code that fully satisfies Web Standards guidelines, receives a major benefit: The content is clearly separated from the design. This provides a boost when Search Engines index the website. If you wish to apply a Search Engine Optimisation strategy to such a website, it will be easier, more productive, and more profitable for you and your company.

Enhance user experience

If your website follows the Web Standards guidelines, it will be smaller in size and faster to load. Your visitor will be served quickly and accurately. Your website is an extension of yourself and your business, and, in effect, a promoting tool by itself. You should strive to make your potential customer’s life easier and allow him/her to reach his target effortlessly and without frustration. 

Promote accessibility by all

Accessibility is a crucial aspect to good web design. Adherence to Web Standards guidelines places great importance to accessibility. Through the last decade, the variety with which one can access the Web has increased exponentially – and it is certainly bound to increase further. Adjusting or duplicating websites to satisfy different needs is very difficult and certainly costly. Adhering to the Web Standards greatly aids you, the website owner, towards solving this problem. Web Standards make sure that traditional display methods (such as old and new browsers) as well as unusual browsers or media will be capable of presenting your website correctly. 

This makes your website available to the widest possible audience. It can be used by people with disabilities and also by those who access the Web through unusual browsing devices. Perhaps these are voice browsers, Braille-outputing systems, hand-held devices with limited monitor space (such as PDAs, iPhone), teletext monitors, and others.

It does not make sense, business-wise, to make your website unavailable to potential customers just because they chose a different way of accessing your website. Barring access, even to small portions of a target audience can make a big difference to your profit margin and the potential investment return of your website. 

The increased accessibility which derives from complying with the standards will bring rewards to any web-site, business-oriented or not.

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