If you could take your website to a virtual mechanic, would it fail its MOT?
W3C standards effectively help you measure the “road worthiness” of your website. While you may not face a stiff fine for operating outside W3C guidelines (though there is that possibility), compliance can make your website leaner, more efficient – and much better for your business.
What is W3C?
W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium. They're not the “web police”. Instead, they are a consortium of experts who have developed guidelines for
website design coding focusing on usability and accessibility.
(You can run a check to test if your site follows their general standards here.)
Does it matter for my business?
Understandably, what it comes down to for most people is: will following W3C guidelines improve business performance online?
The short answer is yes. The W3C exists to help provide the best experience for internet users. So, by being W3C-compliant your site is more likely to appeal to your visitors and customers. So, how will that impact your business?
Breaking down the benefits...
Here are some crucial ways that W3C-compliance helps you succeed online:
- Your site will be more search engine-friendly. On the technical side, W3C compliance means that your code is much easier for search engine spiders to find and read – making your site easier to index.
- Your site will display correctly across different browsers. Given that Internet Explorer is no longer the dominant force it once was (losing ground to FireFox) it makes sense to make your site viewable in as many different browsers as possible.
- Your site will work with mobile devices. The latest stats are that over 50% of mobile phone users access the web via their handsets.
- Your site will run smoother and faster. This can be crucial in retaining customers (particularly if you run an eCommerce website or have a high volume of visitors).
Being fully accessible (and avoiding legal action...)
There is another, more serious, consequence of not being W3C-compliant. As we mentioned in the introduction, an issue related to W3C standards is accessibility. In the UK and USA it's illegal not to take reasonable steps to make your site accessible to disabled users.
While it's possible to be accessible and not validate with W3C, by making sure that you're compliant you're much more likely to be offering an accessible user experience.
Of course, this is yet another benefit to your business. If you're effectively excluding people who have accessibility issues, then you're losing yet more customers.
Is it a disaster if I'm not W3C compliant?
It's possible to be W3C compliant but still have a poorly designed, hard to navigate website. It's also possible (though unlikely) to have non-valid code and still have an accessible site.
The key is to give yourself the best possible chance of success by being both W3C compliant and hiring
professional web design experts who understand how to make your site work best for all users.
That way you'll have a website that's road-tested to get through the bumps and potholes of the internet damage-free!
About the Author
Oliver Pluckrose is the Head of Development for Online Business Solutions UK Limited (OBS Group) – a web design company based in London. Formed in 1998, OBS Group’s ethos has always been to provide simple, end user-driven web site development for a sensible, fixed price.
