Web Standards Compliance

The Web committee at W. Frank Steely Library concluded that the best way to make the Web site accessible to all was to fully conform to Web scripting standards. In doing this, it was necessary to relinquish some of the control over the design. The idea is to make the design as flexible as is currently possible and to let the user decide how to view the site's content. The following statement describes what we have done, why we did it, and provides resources to help others to do the same. To learn more about how we have worked to limit accessibility barriers, view our Accessibility Statement.

Use of valid XHTML

The standard for this Web site is XHTML 1.1 Strict as defined by the W3C. Tags and attributes deprecated in the XHTML 1.1 definitions have not been used. XHTML 1.1, when scripted using structured semantic markup, is fully backwards compatible. The basic underlying idea of our use of XHTML as prescribed by the W3C is to separate content from style and layout. This includes the avoidance of tables used for layout purposes. As each page is edited, it is tested for errors in an HTML validator and corrected. Valid HTML or XHTML and its corresponding Document Type Declaration are necessary for Cascading Style Sheets to be correctly parsed.

XHTML Resources:

Use of Valid CSS2

Layout for this Web site is provided by a series of imported style sheets. The import method has been used to prevent non-standards compliant browsers (which incorrectly read style sheets) from accessing them. The style sheets are divided to enable faster page loads and to simplify (yes, simplify) site wide design issues. Alternate style sheets are available to change the visual layout and alternate media styles have been defined to optimize presentation for printers and other devices (style sheets for handhelds, aural readers, and Braille readers are in development).

CSS Resources:

Meta Data

A combination of standard and Dublin Core meta tags have been embedded as an aid to indexing.

Resources on the use of meta data:

Standards Compliance Advantages

Adherence to standards eliminates many barriers to accessibility.
For example, some proprietary HTML developed by Microsoft cannot be read by Opera, Netscape, and Mozilla browsers. Prior to Netscape 6, Netscape developed proprietary HTML which caused difficulty for Internet Explorer. These problems are eliminated by properly implementing the W3C's Web standards in your Web pages so your audience can use whichever browser they prefer. Also, table and frame based layouts cause problems for people using assistive software. This is one reason why the W3C recommends using style sheets instead of tables for layout purposes and does not support a frame based DOCTYPE statement for XHTML 1.1.
Pages scripted using valid XHTML and valid CSS2 load faster.
The deprecated <font> tag alone can bloat a Web page. Then consider what happens as <font> designations are multiplied across a Web site. A style sheet can define the <font> once and apply that designation across an entire Web site. In fact, all repetitive style and layout designations can be consolidated into one style sheet freeing up bandwidth for content.
Pages scripted using valid XHTML and valid CSS2 can be cross-media compatible.
The use of alternate style sheets for specified media means no more need to maintain a printer-friendly version. No need to maintain a low-bandwidth version. One version of the site can do it all.