Why Standards Still Matter
This is a great article by Roger Johansson.
I’ve moved this out of my “Distractions” category and to my main blog category because Nate left a great comment that I didn’t want to be missed.
This is a great article by Roger Johansson.
I’ve moved this out of my “Distractions” category and to my main blog category because Nate left a great comment that I didn’t want to be missed.
1 Nate K
I think it was a great article. I commented there, but i love your site too so I am going to comment here :)
What do you think is the best approach to handling those who arent in tune with standards? I have found that being abrasive doesn’t really help - but how else do you get the message across?
Personally, I have found that by DOING things by example helps the most. I have worked with some local developers lately. Sitting down with them, working with them, showing them simple things - this seems to help the process the most. The fact that they can see their old example, and my new example redone in CSS - and how much it shaves from load times and filesizes. The fact that they can see a semantic approach to their content and structure. Just starter discussions, but its progress nonetheless.
I learn from books and from colleagues. I read alot. I get involved alot - but I wasn’t always that way. I used to be the person I get annoyed with today. Having friends like Stephen who - though he has more knowledge than me, never spoke down to me but simply showed me by example. Those things meant more to me than someone preaching standards to me.
So, what do you think the balance is?
2 Jina Bolton
It’s a tough battle sometimes. Usually when I start spouting off my “beliefs” with standards, I get a deer-in-the-headlights expression, so I have learned to tone it down.
With clients, I talk about how CSS/(X)HTML sites are easier to manage, which saves time (which save money). I talk about search engine rankings (because from what I can tell, sites created by standards do tend to rank better.) For a while there, accessibility seemed to only be a concern to government-related clients, but lately I seem to be getting more & more questions about 508-compliancy (which makes me happy). What seems to also gain the client’s attention to standards is the discussion on mobile technologies (because all of them seem to carry Treos these days…)
With other designers/developers, it’s actually trickier. Most of the “non-believers” seem to consider the browser-consistancy war to be a waste of time & energy. Sometimes I can win them over by talking about updates being easier & showing them CSS Zen Garden, but I am finding I am still struggling with this. One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that they do perk up when they notice the site load faster, or that a change takes me less than a minute (while it would have taken them ten or more…). I use these moments to remind them of the beauty of CSS. :)
It’s not easy. I still find myself battling the Microsoft-Kool-Aid-drinking-Internet-Explorer-only people. I’ve tried showing them lawsuits & horror stories, but that hasn’t been as effective as I would have liked. Like you said, showing by example really is the best way.
3 Bryan S
For what it’s worth, I agree with Nate. You do have a groovy cool site.
And I think you both are doing a great job of explaining the benefits of using web standards. There probably isn’t much more you can do except continue to be patient. Sucks, doesn’t it?
One note about the search engines… Most only look through a certain amount of code on each page. So if you simplify your code, they will be able to read more of the content. I think most also try to match meta keywords with headings (h1-h6 tags) and content. But headings usually carry a heavier weight, so if you use semantic h1-h6 tags instead of paragraph tags with fonts or some other old school technique, the search engines will love you even more. And face it, isn’t it really about the love?
Who would’ve thought it would be so tough to get professional web designers/developers to use semantic code (aka: use HTML tags the way they were meant to be used in the first place)?
4 Jina Bolton
Thanks, Bryan!
I still have lots on the to-do list to finish it. :)
5 joe
If standards matter to you so much, why does your site use inline styles?
6 Jina Bolton
I’m not done with this site, & it’s possible that there are some inline styles scattered around from the K2 theme or from plugins. I’ll eventually get to all of these.
7 me
Joe,
There’s no reason to be a jerk.