Advantages of web standards

The Internet is permanently changing. New browsers conquer the web and offer users a multitude of different features, not to forget the mobile web, surfing using a mobile phone, palmtops and other output devices. Said briefly: Technology is continuously developing.
At the beginning of the Internet boom web pages were mainly optimised for the most popular browsers such as Explorer 5.01 or 6.0.

Other existing browsers (also other Explorer versions) were ignored and considered mainly as niche products. This had the consequence that web pages were only loaded correctly by using the Internet Explorer – displaying an erroneous version by using other browsers or not being loaded at all. As long as the Internet Explorer 6.0 had a market share of almost 90%, most of the web site operators did not care much about this fact (or they just provided different versions of their web site). But this has changed:

Also other browsers such as Firefox or Opera play a significant role today. The time of being in a disadvantaged position is over. But to reach also this large group of Internet users, an adequate programming is absolutely essential. And here it is where web standards come into play.

What are web standards?

The web standards are guidelines and specifications of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which was founded in 1994 to guarantee the further development and accessibility of the Internet. The aim is to offer the highest possible number of advantages to the highest possible number of web users. The International Consortium consists of several 100 members, including a large number of international enterprises (also numerous browser manufacturers).

By foundation of the Web Standard Project (WaSP) in 1998 the specifications of the W3C have gained more and more acceptance. At present almost all browser manufacturers are aware of the importance of the international web standards and are highly considered in their services and products.

Web design – why consider the web standards?

• Higher browser compatibility: The programming according to web standards makes sure that web sites are almost uniformly shown in all browsers which observe the guidelines of the W3C.
• Compatibility with output devices: Web design in conformity with the standards can ensure a correct representation of web pages also on mobile output devices like palmtops and mobile phones as well as on alternative reading devices.
• Future-oriented: While in the past the appearance of a new browser version caused errors loading web pages, web standards also provide version compatibility.
• Lower costs: As it is not necessary anymore to have several versions of a web site in order to ensure a correct presentation in different browsers the costs for such a programming are lowered. A Reworking is no longer required each time a new version of a browser appears.
• Shorter loading times: The web standards of the W3C propagate a slim programming code, avoiding “Useless” orders and providing a faster loading of the page without having to wait endlessly till the contents of the page appears on our screens.

Web sites are created by STFmedia according to the X (HTML) and CSS standards. Contact us for more information and personal advise.

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