At 5/22/08 12:06 PM, Seachmall wrote:
If someone offers to build a site for someone and can't write decent code on his own site he won't get much work.
If someone is hiring a web designer, decent code - to them - means something that works and looks nice. Or maybe just one of the two.
Having a valid site makes it more flexible and its alot less likely to break with the release of new browsers whom follow W3 validation.
That would be true, if it actually happened. Most of the time, if you want something to look the way you want it, you code it to look that way. If it's invalid...it still shows the way you want it to. No browser conforms to W3 validation, and most have tags that work in that specific browser.
It also makes it easier for screen readers to read the screen (although that depends on where the site breaks validation).
Screen readers reading through a web page is not a decent defense for requiring validation. Invalid code can be read through very easily, depending on what it is that is invalid. Also, writing code for screen readers...in my opinion...is like writing code for text-based browsers like Lynx. Sure, people use them, but not enough to care about.
That being said...the only part of my website left that I actually coded...here. If I can, I validate my code. However, certain things like an embed tag don't validate, no matter how hard you try. I've been able to use the object code for Firefox, but IE doesn't take it. Sure, I can do a work around in Javascript...and have in the past...but code validation for me is just personal preference.