-----Original Message----- Shane Helm - he say: <<<All code of every web page should be validated. Any errors need to be corrected. If your typo is in a tag, then it could produce undesirable results. We should all make sure our code on every web page we create has no errors, whether simple typos or forgotten closing tags; whether we use HTML or XHTML.
Best, Shane Helm>>>> Quite so. I'm ashamed to say I built several web sites without validating anything. I worked on the basis that if it looked ok in IE and perhaps Netscape, and didn't look too bad in the mac we had at the next desk, that was ok. Anyone else who has something different was on their own. Lots of luck, pal. Since I've learned more about web standards and accessibility I've had occasion to rebuild one of those sites, and I built it to XHML1.0Strict. I'm not sure if using XHTML was better, or just because I validated the code, but the new version of the site is faster, smaller, better, laid out better, the code all works. It's easier to maintain. Far faster to find the place in a page that needs work than it did before. Perhaps it's got nothing to do with XHTML per se, but because I coded to a much more stringent standard, I did a better job of it. It was frustrating at first, seeing all those errors coming up, and the nasty ole validator being picky and splitting hairs over a non-supported attribute here or a forgotten / there but the end result is a much better job, and now I am much more disciplined in the code I write. The tighter discipline on my own coding habits means I get more pages right first time now than I did before. Benefit: faster results of higher quality than before. Maybe XHTML has nothing to do with it, maybe it does. But the overall effect is a big improvement all around for me. I reckon validating makes good sense from many points of view. Cheers Mike Kear Windsor, NSW, Australia AFP Webworks http://afpwebworks.com .com,.net,.org domains from AUD$20/Year ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
