Designers, design companies, governments and even politicians are disregarding the Web Standards that were implemented by W3C to make the Internet a better and easier environment to access.

While professional designers and developers understand that they need to write code that works in all browsers, many don't appreciate the effect that non-standards-compliant code can have. Ignoring this convention means that your site is less likely to be accessible or usable, lean (meaning quick to download), CSS-based or even search engine friendly.

Let me use the current American presidential race as an example, both candidates have websites to promote their online presence. If you look behind the iron curtain you will see that both candidates are using flawed websites that fail the HTML validation test set out by the W3C.

(Idol hands have made a very funny and insightful comparison between the two candidates websites, outlining flaws, backward design and optimisation; well worth taking a look at.)

Governments
Governments are failing to commit themselves to the W3C standards. In a 2006 study conducted by the University of Southampton, a shocking 60% of all government sites were found to contain HTML errors. Researchers said not complying with W3C guidelines would have a large effect on how disabled people can use particular websites, in some cases even prevent them from being able to access the site at all.

Social Networks
As more and more people sign up to social networks, one might speculate that these sites would be at the forefront of HTML validation. When you look past all the colourful backgrounds, friends lists and apps you see a HTML structure that is very immature and harmful to Web Standards. 

So why then do designers and companies overlook the HTML validation process? The answer is quite simple - the Internet is a very young medium. It’s been around for the regular consumer for little more than 10 years and most designers and developers are self taught, using tutorials to further their knowledge. One would rarely find a designer or developer that has been working on the net since its creation.

So what’s the solution? I would like all people, designers and consumers to take a much more mature and comprehensive look at what they are designing or what design they are purchasing. Have a look at Gavin’s post for the compliance testing process. Be vigilant about what you want and what you are paying for, you wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it, would you?