Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites

Chapter . Introduction

Building Web sites has changed, and someone forgot to tell the architects.

Web browsers’ support for modern techniques has allowed a new degree of discipline and control in coding the front end of a Web site. These new best practices are those dictated in what is commonly referred to as “Web standards-based” design or development.

A Web standards-based approach has countless benefits. The larger or more complex a Web presence, the more critical Web standards become. This is particularly true for an enterprise with many different properties, channels, or brand considerations. Add to this the prospect of critical Web-based applications and content management, and it becomes a mandate to ensure a high level of quality at every ...