I am often asked to comment on the web designs of friends and associates. It’s a tricky situation for me. Regardless of the visual design, which is usually fine, often, I find problems underneath the hood that are difficult to explain. What I find are sites designed with tables-based layouts, using older HTML techniques. Today, I’d like to make the case for why you should discard that old way of design and move to standards-compliant design.
1. Accessibility
A web design done with standards in mind is broadly accessible. I have noticed that the SF/F fandom is particularly accepting of those with handicaps and disabilities, but many SF-related websites do not take these fans into consideration. A properly designed web site takes makes allowances for the use of screen readers and other accessibility tools. Tables based designs make a mess of this. Accessibility is a small part of standards-based designs, based on the number of people that it effects. But do you really want to run the risk of alienating any potential fans?
2. Ease of Maintenance
With css/xhtml-based designs, the content is separated (mostly) from the presentation. Here’s what this means: say you have a new book coming out that you want to promote. If your site is built with old techniques, updating your design involves a complete teardown and rebuild. However, if your site has been built with standards, you could simply replace the stylesheet and have an entirely new design that reflects your primary project. In general, these websites are very easy to make changes for, as far as presentation is concerned. Don’t like that link color? Edit the CSS, and it’ll change across the site.
3. SEO Implications
A standards-based design takes search engine optimization into account straight away. Proper page structure, even if it is not perceived by humans using browsers, will be picked up by indexing services. Building your site with standards in mind does not automatically mean higher rankings, but it certainly helps.
4. Less Bandwidth Intense
Standards-based designs are lean and quick. CSS is downloaded once, whereas in the old way, the presentation would be downloaded over and over again. Your file sizes are all-around smaller, which means a faster website, and happier visitors.
5. Your website is like the cover of a book.
A standards-based design can look good or it can look bad. But more often than not, they look pretty good. Your website is like a book cover. Whether you know it or not, potential readers are evaluating whether or not to pick up your work based on your website. They may not even know it–it may just be subconcious. But good design facilitates the presentation of information, and you are in the business of selling that. Your website should reflect a level of professionalism at least on par to the cover design of your books. Don’t commit a sin on the level of the SFWA website, please.
Afterword
Despite all this, I am not a standardsista. Sometimes to satisfy the desires of your client, you need to bend the standards a little, and I still sleep okay when I have to do so. Like anything, you can go overboard with the idea of standards-based design. But in general, the above are some very good reasons for hiring a professional designer who is familiar with standards to provide your site–or if you are a do-it-yourself-er, picking up some books on XHTML and CSS. This is the part where I plug me. You already know I do web design, but if you’re interested in learning more about my client process, visit my freelance information page.
