A Natural Progression
Back when the web was young, anyone who could put together a web page, no matter how messy or ugly, was a commodity. Today, to do any real web work, you have to be good. Or cheap. But let’s focus on good.
Web Standards are becoming a part of mainstream development technology. And it’s not just a fad. Here are some articles to prove it, and they’re not just for the developer. What’s being presented here is not technical. It’s real. I think it’s important for business owners, PM’s, Creative Directors, and Salespeople alike to understand this.
- The Business Value of Web Standards by Jeffrey Veen
- Web Standards: A Business Perspective by Vivabit
- The Business Case for Web Accessibility by Andy Budd
As a business person, the more work I do, the more I see businesses, vendors, and yes, even clients, specifying the use of Web Standards in their development. And why not? In my opinion, any well informed (read: non-ignorant) person can see the benefits to using Standards. (I didn’t say that they should use Standards… yet.)
So, as a developer, what does that mean for me? It means that I had better start learning this stuff… and fast. It means that I might have to change the way I think about things. Alter the way I approach development. Because if I don’t, in 2-5 years, I will be outdated. Would you hire someone who learned to develop for Netscape 4/IE 4.0 in 1997, and that was where they stopped? No way.
Times have changed. Browsers have updated. Technology has improved. We have moved on. And we are moving now. So jump on the bandwagon. Web Standards are no longer a nitche. They’re prime-time. You can keep coding with nested tables, font tags, and even stick in a MARQUEE every now an then if you want, but when we’re in competition for a contract, developing with Web Standards will make my work faster, cheaper, and just flat-out better.