W3C
Here at Zoom Creates, we’re fanatical about testing & validation of the web sites we produce. Before a web site is launched, our team performs a site-wide validation check for HTML & CSS compliance using the globally-recognized standards taken from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
What the W3C does:
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding. It is the organization which all web standards are derived from and should adhere to.
Top 3 reasons why validation and testing of a web site is important:
- Multi-browser, multi-version, multi-OS compatibility: Ensure that the site will look the same on every web browser and operating system being used. However, there are some limitations to this (see below).
- Search engine indexing: A compliant web site allows search engines to more easily index the contents of a web site, making for superior organic SEO results.
- Maintenance and scalability: When future edits need to be made to a web site, starting off with a compliant site provides the developer with a “clean slate” to work from. Not having to go back and fix junky code saves valuable time and costs.
What Browsers?
So, what browsers are tested against for compatibility? Typically, this is limited to supporting browsers with the highest usage. The general rule is to ensure support for browsers no more than 1 version back.
What’s the big deal with IE6?
A classic example of when the “supported” rule might be bent a little is the ongoing support for Internet Explorer 6. IE6 was released in 2001, shortly before Windows XP was released. It became the most widely used browser, and remained on top of the stack of browsers until 2007 – when Firefox took over. Many developers concerned with compatibility still continue to support testing on IE6 (including Zoom Creates). According to statistics from June 2009, IE6 usage is down below 15%. Once that number gets below 10%, it can officially be phased out of inclusion for compliance testing. This will likely happen by Q1 2010 as Windows 7 rolls out with IE8 (released earlier this year) becoming the standard. Many a developer over the years has struggled with ridiculous display issues – often having to write custom style sheets and hacks specifically for IE6.
Here’s to validated, compliant code! We’re all doing our part to make the Internet better by leveraging standards put together by communities of other geniuses.
Want to see browser usage statistics? Check out the tables over at W3Schools.
Want to validate some web sites?
W3C HTML Validator
W3C CSS Validator
Finally, are you still using IE6?!? Get out of the Internet stone age and get yourself a decent browser! Firefox and Chrome are both solid. If you must stay with Internet Explorer, go and get IE8 now. It’s free!
Happy Green Bar!
Tags: browsers, compliance, CSS, IE6, testing, validation, W3C, web, XHTML
I teach the Web Standards course at the Art Institute of Portland. The last hold-out of Internet Explorer 6 isn’t the consumer market, its the Enterprise market. Because of that, I would caution any studio targeting an Enterprise audience to maintain at least read-only IE6 support until IT departments join hands worldwide and upgrade.
More important than Web Standards is the concept of accessibility and data portability (which standards exist to promote). Any developer wanting to embrace those ideals would do well to adopt a Strict document type definition. Though more restrictive, a document validating in XHTML 1.0 Strict or XHTML 1.1 will observe the greatest amount of parse-ability.
[...] and platforms can greatly increase chances of uncovering issues. Also, coding to W3C standards is vastly important. Having a solid QA process you can stick to is a fine idea as well. Still… there are a [...]
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