"The Most Important" Web Style Rule

The most important web style rule is found on the "Spiderpro: Styleguide: compatibility" website. It is "Do validate" (Kampherbeek). The Spiderpro site adds "Validate your pages. This is the best way to find errors that won't show up in some browsers but might be the cause of trouble in other browsers" (Kampherbeek). Validation is imporant because any other style rule is irrelevant if someone can not see your website. Standards compliance supports all types of devices from cell phones and Nintendo Wiis to personal computers and PDAs. Not everyone will use Internet Explorer to see your website. The W3C offers a free validation service at http://validator.w3.org/ . You can also validate RSS and ATOM feeds often found on blogs and news sites. There is also a link to the W3C CSS validator. The "Web Style Guide" by Lynch and Horton says "If reasonable, consistent design standards are not adopted, the average user suffers confusion, reduced productivity, and lost opportunity to benefit from the promise of Web information sources." (Lynch and Horton) The design of a website can not be consistent if the markup is not standards compliant. By validating pages, authors can be certain there is consistent markup. A visual verification of design consistency will make users happy. A viewable website will let you get your message out.

Most devices support HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 Transitional. XHTML 1.0 Basic was developed for embedded devices and cell phones. A subset of XHTML 1.0 Strict is the basis for this alternate standard.

To learn more about web standards, consult the W3C website at http://www.w3.org/. The "Spiderpro" site is located at http://www.spiderpro.com/pr/prstgm001_cmp.html and the "Web Style Guide" at http://www.webstyleguide.com/site/standards.html .