Designing With Web Standards, Second Edition

Chapter 3. The Trouble with Standards

Web standards hold the key to accessible, cost-effective web design and development, but you wouldn’t know it from surveying most big commercial sites. In this chapter, we’ll explore some of the reasons web standards have not yet been incorporated into the normative practice of all design shops and in-house web divisions, and are not yet obligatory components of every site plan or request for proposal.

If you’d prefer to read web standards success stories, turn to Chapter 4. If you’re sold on standards and are ready to roll up your sleeves, skip ahead to Chapter 5. But if you need help selling standards to your colleagues, this chapter is for you.

Lovely to Look At, Repulsive to Code

In mid-2002, with six other ...