Validation defined

HTML and CSS validations have been circulating as a notorious issue at least within webmaster communities. Validation simply refers to the process done by a program or online service to validate and check that the web page created is error free.

W3

W3 is a consortium or organization that issues the standards for HTML’s. The organization offers its own online validator which can be used for free.

HTML Validators

HTML validators check to confirm if your html codes conforms to the W3 standards. Various types of validators are available, some check for mere errors, others make code suggestions, and some will tell you the unexpected outputs that a certain way of writing could produce. To validate html simply visit http://validator.w3.org

CSS Validators

A Cascading Style Sheet or CSS validator works the in the same manner as HTML validators only with CSS as the base. It is also the W3 association that sets and issues said standards. http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ is the site to go to validate any Cascading Style Sheet.

Why Validate

Main reason

Why is there a need to validate the web page? There is a need to validate web pages in order to check for coding errors, or old codes that need replacing or open codes that need to be closed properly. 

The cross-platform, cross-browser and future compatibility issues

Commonly a web page is created to work for your favorite browser. Unknowingly the page contains errors that are not visible on your current browser for some reason or another. In this view the page containing HTML or CSS coding in most cases will not work as well for different browsers this is because the unseen errors are now visible on these other browsers. It is also probable that any latest platform or browser rendition would automatically try to fix the error only to result to a broken page.

Proper coding will ensure that your page shows up correctly on any given platform or browsers currently available or available in the future.

Search Engine Visibility

Search engines aren’t perfect, when errors appear on a web page, the engine will try to make assumptions as to what the site designer is trying to achieve. Upon sweeping your site for words, engines might come to assume different meanings or translations from any error occurrence. Translations and comprehension varies especially without the presence of a sound basis.

Professionalism

A poorly done web page first of reflects how the website designer lacks adequate knowledge and skill on the matter. Second it can portray that because of such errors the designer as skilled as he may be is possibly a sloppy work because of the errors he has overseen on the website. Visible errors show the lack of professionalism and dedication a person has for his or her work. Also such errors will affect the marketability of the site as it shows its inefficiency and infectivity.

Why Not Validate?

The average visitor will not proof read your coding

A counter argument against professionalism would be that the average person does not check source codes, which is quite true. As the visitor’s objective lies not on the source codes or errors that could be found in your site hence what he sees aesthetically on the browser will prove how good or bad a designer is.

Time Constraints

Face it, a fast paced world equates less time to stop and smell the roses or in this scenario to check for errors. An up and running not to mention existing page with a good amount of traffic is least likely to be validated as the designer would find it best to do something more productive than tinker around with a seemingly good site.

Validation does NOT guarantee the page will work properly

Even upon validation of your codes, there is still the task of checking if it works and is error free on several other browsers. Arguably the main goal of web design is to make sure that the web page is viewable. Considering some standards for compliance is really less likely a worthwhile thought in other people’s viewpoint.

W3 and their solutions

At some point W3 came out stating that they knew a lot of websites did not comply with their coding standards, further stating that all new pages then on will validate correctly and the old pages will be updated as well. Whilst for many this is not an idyllic solution, it is however a practical solution for webmasters who are dealing with hundreds of web pages they have in existence. Most craftsmen will scoff at having to settle for some wishy washy method ego aside though this method will greatly reduce the amount of workload.

Validation Frequency

Validating frequency depends on a person, some people will validate every time they make modifications on the web page, others will validate only if it is a major design change.  Having an offline validator serves as a reminder not to be lethargic about validating. Because it is offline there is no excuse not to be able to validate. Offline validators are essentially programs downloadable or installable onto your computer. This eliminates the need to go onto the W3 website in order to validate your codes.

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