Presentek, Inc.

Coding with Web Standards means creating web pages using standards-compliant XHTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and following guidelines set forth by the W3C.

• Cross-browser (and user-agent) compatibility - because the code is developed according to a standard that all modern browsers (ones written in the past 5 years or so) and user-agents recognize, there is no extra coding needed (e.g. a version of the site in IE vs. Firefox/Safari; or creating scripts to force a browser to render a page in a certain way).
• SEO - search engine spiders are simply user-agents that only look at the structure of the code, and the content, not how the page displays. By removing the styling from that code structure, the spiders can easily get at the content of the page without having to sift through information it doesn't need. Additionally, if a page is structured properly (with headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.), the search engines generally will rank the page/site higher.
• Accessibility - users with disabilities use screen-readers and other types of devices and software that allow them to interact with the web. Developing with standards-compliant code makes it so that those other user-agents will be able to "read" the content of the site without getting confused by information they can't use (similar to search engine spiders). It also allows those users with limited mobility to interact with the site. Additionally, in order to validate, the code must contain certain elements and attributes that those special user-agents can use to more effectively communicate with the user. All of this allows you to market to the entire population without leaving anyone out simply because they can't use a normal web browser.
• Ease of Maintenance - because the code structure is separated from the styling/layout, maintaining content, changing site colors, images, behaviors, etc. are all much easier because the code is human-readable and as a developer, you don't have to weed through and clean up unnecessary code.
• Load-time and Bandwidth - standards-compliant code is naturally "un-bloated" in that it doesn't contain the unnecessary code needed in traditional sites to affect how the page displays. This results in smaller file sizes which results in smaller footprints on the server, fewer resources needed to serve the page, reduced bandwidth needed to view a page (both for the user and for the server), and a reduced load-time for the user. When converting a site to standards-compliant code, we have seen reductions of up to 1/3 of the original size of an html file while keeping all the content the same.
• Device-interoperability (phones, PDAs, projection screens, etc.) - again, since the code structure is separated from the layout and styling, the site can be adapted to display on various device-types without having to rewrite the actual code. We would simply create new stylesheets for those particular devices.

Unless your site was redesigned or developed in the past few years and the developer was mindful of this trend and practice, it probably isn't. If you want us to verify it, just email support@presentek.com with your name, email, company and url. One of our staff members will be happy to take a look and let you know (at no charge).

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