Running Head: WEB STANDARDS 1

WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Web Design and Development Standards

Accessible web designs are highly valued in modern society because they empower users

all of kinds including those with disabilities and allows them to independently navigate, browse,

use, and interact with the digital content. The accessibility of a website is characterized by visual,

auditory, cognitive and mobility related attributes. According to FELKE-MORRIS (2017) an

accessible website provides an efficient and meaningful navigation that works with assistive

devices and standard browsers. It also allows all users to perceive the meaning behind the text,

images, files, and multimedia that has been used to communicate the products and services of the

organization owning the website. Similarly, an accessible website communicates both content

and context, explaining how different portions of information related to each other (Bernard &

Summers, 2010). These features characterizing a standard website are outlined by standards that

ensure accessibility and functionality of web development and design. There are organizations

that formulate and enforce these standards. Therefore, this paper describes web design and

development standards along with the organizations that formulate them. It also outlines the

importance of adhering to these standards for successful web development projects.

Standards

Web standards are the accepted specifications formulated to regulate the design and

development works of web designers and developers. These experts are expected to follow these

guidelines to ensure that the websites they create are accessible and usable to all groups of

people irrespective of the devices and methods they use to access the internet. Web standards

apply to Web Design, Applications, Web Architecture, and Web Semantics.

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The development of standards-compliant websites makes them more accessible and

compatibility with different versions of web browsers. In the recent years FELKE-MORRIS

(2017) states that some web technologies were built without regards to web standards and ended

up breaking the coding practices. Such sites used errant formats of codes which were deviant

from the standard code used in web design. Technologies of this kind are known to harm the

sites’ SEO because of their non-semantic codes that imped accessibility.

Web development standards and best practices are so many, and it is possible to omit

some critical aspects. If designers and developers are not aware of these standards, they are

likely to build sites they consider the best, but can eventually harm the reputation of the websites.

Understanding and following the standards, is thus, an important consideration for web designers

and developers.

Standards Organizations

Several organizations are responsible for setting the standards for the World Wide Web

and information technology universe. They set and provide guidelines and recommendations that

concern web developers. For instance, these organizations recommend the standards procedures

and inclusions for the implementation of technologies such as the Document Object Model,

XHTML, and Cascading Style Sheets. While there are many of such organizations, key players

in this regard include W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), ISO (International Organization for

Standardization) ANSI (American National Standards Institute), and ECMA (European

Association for Standardizing Information and Communication Systems).

W3C is the main source of guidelines for web design and subsequent development. The

organization is set out to lead the Web to its full potential. ISO, on the other hand, provides
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requirements for website owners and website providers. It establishes the guidelines for website

development and operations for software developers and maintenance of websites. Similarly, the

American National Standards Institute is mandated to monitor standardizations processes and

accredit Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) within the United States (FELKE-

MORRIS, 2017). Also, ANSI creates the assessment processes and provisions to aid the SDOs in

creating standards. ECMA, on the other hand is a European Organization that ensures adherence

to the industry standards among small and large companies that produce or develop and

communication systems. The aim of the organization is to develop standards and technical

reports that facilitate and standardize the use of information communication technology. ECMA

is different from other bodies because its standards apply only to member companies. It does not

regulate companies that have not subscribed for membership.

Importance of Adhering to Web Design and Development Standards

Since the inception of the World Wide Web by Burners Lee in 1989, it has been of

undeniable significance of the daily life (Bernard & Summers, 2010). When the number of

websites appearing online began to increase rapidly, it became apparent that it was necessary to

have government bodies to ensure standardization of websites and all that all of them meet

specific developmental guidelines. It was for this concern that the major player, the W3C was

founded in 1994 to lead the World Wide Web into exploiting its full capability by creating

standard protocols and guidelines to foresee the design and development of websites (FELKE-

MORRIS, 2017). Generally, the web is an open source of information in which anyone can

create and post content for the world to see. It is therefore, critically important that every

information is accessible to all users.

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Websites that have been developed under the standards and guidelines of web

development are easy to maintain. Such websites have been coded in clear and semantic outline

making them readable and very descriptive with all page elements such as header, footer, and

nav elaborately used. An understandable code can also be edited by other developers that can

easily pick up on how the website was built. This makes it easier for them to incorporate new

features.

Additionally, standard-based websites supports all browsers including the older ones in

the market. According to Bernard & Summers (2010) a standard website is compatible with the

current version of the web browser as well as the two version behind. Similarly, websites built

using semantically correct HTML appear higher in the search results. Search engines will always

find them when prompted to search a given keyword. Also, a website that was built following the

web standards is stable and functions correctly in all devices.

Conclusively, it is critically important to adhere to web standards during the design and

development of websites. During the maintenance and upgrade, the same rule should apply for

the website to be reputable. Websites that have been developed following these guidelines are

always stable, ranked high by search engines, easy to maintain, and are compatible with all

browsers including the older versions. Therefore, web design and development standards and

important.
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References

Bernard, C., & Summers, S. (2010). Dynamic Prototyping with SketchFlow in Expression Blend:

Sketch Your Ideas... And Bring Them to Life! Portable Documents. Pearson Education.

FELKE-MORRIS. (2017). Web Development and Design Foundations with Html5. PEARSON

EDUCATION Limited.