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Web Standards Are About Communication

Posted in: web-standards at about 12pm

There has been a lot of talk across the web recently about web standards: the roll they play in modern web development (and web-dev culture?), whether they should exist any more, what their current direction should be, etc. (For example these). All this talk has got me thinking about how I view web standards and how I treat them in real life. Here are a few simple thoughts.

Before I say anthing, I want to point out that CSS/HTML/JS(/Design) for creating websites is just a system of languages. They provide a means for communicating information. They themselves are nothing more than text (usually). Because of this, I want to point out some observations from my studying English in school.

One thing that we talked about in language theory was that language (English, for example) only works as a means of communication because of conventions. That is to say, when I make noises that sound like, “Hello, how are you?” You may respond, “Fine, thank you.” Because we both agree on the meaning of the first set of words. Our specific interpretation of those words may differ slightly, but still we both have a very similar understanding of what they are to mean.

Because of this nature of language, the meaning, over time, can change and the system stays intact. Furthermore, people can deliberately alter the meaning of words (look at various forms of propaganda, political campaigns, ad campaigns; many work to shape our collective understandings of words) and if everyone’s understanding shifts together, then, again, the system stays intact. Afterall, the purpose of language is to communicate, and if the purpose is being fulfilled, how specifically the communication takes place doesn’t matter. This is why grammar is only important to a certain degree. If someone tells me, “I ain’t got no nachos,” I would be foolish to chide them for not saying “don’t have any” because I can understand very well what they mean.

I think that web developers/designers would do well to attempt to adopt this sort of understanding of web standards. Meaning they should understand that if a website communicates it’s message clearly, then it succeeds. That’s it, there’s nothing further. It doesn’t matter if there’s a semantic class name or (God Forbid!) a table, the website is doing it’s job. Now, I’m not saying that standards should be ignored, but they should be understood as a means to enhance communication and not as some sort of law to justify a given website.

That being said, long-live standards! They make a designer’s life easier, they’re helpful for browser makers, they give marketers of web design companies something to tout, but let’s remember that communication, is ultimately, what counts.