Comments on: Being Obsessive about Web Standards

By: Convert

Convert — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:38:24 +0000

Does any one know how to add a content into missing alt tags found in avatar-images in wordpress comments? The Alt tags there are missing, it’s mandatory to have them as per xhtml compliance, I was just wondering how to fix that.

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:03:47 +0000

Thanks, Cath! Nice to see you showing up here, as well!

It’s tough to keep up, I know - but the important thing, to my mind, is to keep trying. Even though it’s possible that some people will hold one or two errors against you, you should always know that THOSE people are just being obnoxious - you know the work you’ve put in!

By: Cath

Cath — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:40:23 +0000

Good article Joe. Being someone who is new to web design, accessibility and validating code, I admit to being a little obsessive about validating my pages, not every day, but after every update or change. I posted about this at Cre8asite, and my view on it is still the same, I think the professional webmasters should do their best to make sure their sites validate, it’s you guys who set the example for us mere hobbyists and if the professionals’ sites don’t validate, what incentive is there for the rest of us to help Yuri Improve the Web.

By: Mike Cherim

Mike Cherim — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 22:43:30 +0000

Very good point of view, Joe. Personally I don’t get carried away any more that makes me feel good (I do very much enjoy the challenge). I allow some stuff to slide, but very little. I do validate every time I make edits to one of my sites. I do this because I find it’s easier to keep up with it if I do it right away. It’s not daunting that way. Plus, if my code is valid and whatnot, I can rest easy knowing that the original design won’t be broken or inaccessible to some user because I created a critical (to their UA) error. Moreover, because some newer developers do look at what I do and consider some of it exemplary, I sort of feel I have an obligation to them to keep my pages valid. Last thing I want is someone pointing out to me that I have an invalid page. Thus, I try to check and have it corrected before someone else does.

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 10:34:10 +0000

And, for what it’s worth, I don’t think I was making a Manichean argument. I simply meant that web standards, while important, are not necessarily the final word in a good website. And I do NOT in any way think that an alt tag is unimportant - my precise statement was that a missing alt tag will not “invalidate all your labor” - that is, a mistake does not mean you haven’t worked hard. It DOES mean that it needs to be fixed - I would not call a website accessible which was missing an alt attribute. I would, however, give that person due credit for their work.

And sorry, “unescaped” is the wrong word - I meant that I have found copyright symbols cropping up without the proper html entity references.

By: Joe Clark

Joe Clark — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 12:29:46 +0000

This isn’t a Manichean argument. You can fix your writing and also add your alt text, the latter of which is more important than you think (and more important than a single unencoded ampersand).

By the way, how can a copyright symbol be “unescaped�??

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By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 19:25:59 +0000

I certainly can't argue - I won't claim to be innocent of obsessive validation myself.

I do sincerely enjoy the detailed and nitpicky elements of accessible design and some parts of SEO. My argument is more to the point that sometimes it's important to step back and make sure the whole website is really providing what you need from it.

For some of us, a website really needs to provide a place for us to exercise our nitpicky tendencies

By: Shaun Anderson

Shaun Anderson — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:46:13 +0000

Some of us do ENJOY the complexity of accessibility - accessible website design and SEO is the only thing that keeps me interested in web design.