W3C Validation is an oft-repeated term when website accessibility is talked about. W3C refers to World Wide Web Consortium, a unanimous organization that provides a ser of web standards and guidelines that help overcome the problem of incompatibility of code and browsers and help make websites accessible to a large population across the world.
The standards specified by the W3C are only guidelines and not
legal specifications. To follow or not to follow them is on the
discretion of web designers and developers. However, professional web
designers and developers choose to adhere to the guidelines in order to
increase the credibility of their work. The W3C is a reputed
organization and enjoys high regards in the World Wide Web. In fact,
many clients seek to get websites that are W3C validated. It is common
for XHTML and HTML website but becomes indispensable for website build
totally on CSS.
The World Wide Web Consortium was the creation
of Tim Berners-Lee, the developer of the first ever web browser in
1989. The W3C was incepted in a bid to standardize the web technologies
used in the web world and promote the Internet as a global medium.
There are millions of desktops in the world, all with different
specifications. This interoperability between the different machines
needs a standard interface and standardized data communication
protocols in order to transfer the information to and fro.
W3C Mission
The
World Wide Web consortium works with a mission to standardize the web
so it can be used efficiently across the world. It aims to publish
necessary standards that can be followed by all computer system so that
they can speak the same language and communicate effortlessly and so
that all web browsers render web pages exactly the same way. The
consortium also seeks to educate web designers and web developers about
the nuances of the web so that they can work together to build websites
that comply with the W3C standards.
The consortium ensures
that users all over the world using any machine, be it Windows or Mac
are able to able to view web pages hosted on servers irrespective of
the location. Web pages that are created with validated HTML and CSS
code are rendered the same way and have the same functionality across
different web browsers and operating systems.
Importance of W3C Validated Code
W3C
validation ensure cross browser compatibility to a certain extent. All
web browsers render HTML differently. And because browsers have their
own specific proprietary extensions to HTML and CSS, the website which
looks great on one particular browser fails to look the same in others.
By using code that is validated as per W3C standards, you can be sure
that your website works well on all popular browsers.
Why is W3C Standards Not Widely Used?
HTML
editors do not generate code that is 100% compatible. The code that is
generated fails to meet the latest standards. Amongst the ones that do
a good job are DreamWeaver.
Even hand coding cannot ensure
complete compatibility with the standards unless of course, the
developer is highly well-versed with the latest standards. Moreover, a
lot of fancy features are not supported by web browsers.
Adherence to web standards is absolutely essential, especially so in
the times of increasing number of web browsers that are coming up. Thus
make sure your code follows W3C validation in order for your website to
perform well on the World Wide Web.