xhtml and validation

Hey hey fun fans
So anyway I just spent quite a long time rebuilding my site with css instead of tables (don't really know why I used them in the first place), and I thought I'd go the whole hog and make it xhtml strict 1.0 valid. It's a nightmare! I ended up settling for xhtml transitional, and then realised that I didn't actually know what the point of making it valid XHTML at all was.

So what is the point? You can make an accessible, attractive, solid site just using html, and if you try and convert it to XHTML and test it (go here: http://validator.w3.org/) it'll probably have loads of silly little errors, like tags you haven't closed properly and stuff, but they don't actually interfere with the workings of the site at all - even if you test it on all four of the big browsers chances are it'll look and work fine.

So anyway, after all that rambling (sorry), my question is, do you validate all your sites? And why?
Your thoughts...

Yes I do validate all my sites.

From a personal viewpoint, I think it's the professional thing to do.

From a comercial viewpoint, being standards compliant means that your site should work with things you may not even have or are able to consider testing such as mobile phones, assistive technology devices etc, and continue to work correctly as browsers and the Internet continue to evolve.

The point is: You're doing your part to bring some standardisation to the internet.

Trying to make all pages conform to the same guidelines so that anyone on any browser, with any special needs can gain the full benefit of viewing your site.

Follow standards now so you don't get slapped in the face tomorrow by either new technology or even tougher standards...

It's just good practice, but I believe it should be law.

Plus you'll avoid people on this site telling you that your site doesn't validate, regardless of what your question might be

Not only here, but in other forums too! We're not that bad

Hehe! Fair do's...
I suppose I'm just a bit annoyed at the occassional heavy-handedness of the w3c - for example, one of the main reasons my site wouldn't validate to xhtml strict was because I've used the target attribute of the <a> tag - but there's no other way of getting links to open in a new window except javascript, which seems a ridiculously complicated (and code-bloating) way of doing things, and certainly wouldn't help accessibility. Just annoyed me a bit I suppose. I must admit I agree with all your reasons though, and I'm feeling a bit less like I wasted an afternoon now...
Cheers!
Robb

Yep its because that attribute is meant to be for targetting frames.

In case anyone has this prob the javascript way is:

Code: Select all

 <a href="foo.htm" onclick="window.open(foo.htm); return false;">foo</a>

I don't understand. The following code will allow you to open a link in a new window and is valid XHTML.

<a href="http://www.sitenamegoeshere" target="_blank">image code or text here</a>

Is that what you mean or are you trying to achieve something else?

Yeah, that's valid html or xhtml transitional, but not xhtml strict, which is what we're all supposed to be working towards. Seems a bit silly as the target attribute works correctly in all browsers, I suppose it's just because that's not what it's meant for though like sypher said.

It's not that great a practice making things open in new windows anyway. You should try and avoid it unless it is absolutely necessary.

New window opening can be an annoyance and also it can take the focus away from the main area of your site.

And its annoying for firefox users. Because we dont use new windows we use Tabs.
Im guessing with css3 etc they will bring out some new commands to counter these probs.

I've got an extension installed that deals with this annoyance. It opens anything with target_blank in a new tab, opens anything from a different site in a new tab and any links you follow in other apps... you guesed it, new tab.

It's wonderful!

I always make it a personal point of validating all my sites. Apart from a personal sense of pride and achievement, it shows that you care about web standards, indicates professionalism and impresses customers.

Agreed, except the "impresses customers" part. I think you'll find that most customers don't care/understand the whole web standards thing. It's only techies that care mate...

Perhaps, but it's just another thing to put on your list of surveys. When you tell them that it will maximise their exposure due to the fact that the site can be viewed on a variety of platforms and browsers, and use buzzwords like 'future-proofing', I reckon they love it. Plus you can tell them that it makes their site really professional etc.

Gotta love them Buzz-Words! Suppose it is all about how you explain it to them....

ROFL.... how true that is..

__________________
Rob - SEO Specialist
Owner & Founder of Webforumz.com

I am currently unavailable for private work

Just got this on a newsletter:
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=64982
I think it covers all the points...

To summarise: Search engines themselves don't use valid code, so why should we bother?
Well, SE's are not trying to get their pages indexed by their own robots...
Having valid code simply ensures that robots hit an error, or in other words, won't have any problems indexing your page, its links, etc...