Web Standards & Accessibility

All websites developed by www.justinreynolds.co.uk are built on a foundation of handwritten XHTML and CSS code based on web standards coding guidelines specified by the World Wide Web Consortium.

Web standards methodology separates the code used to structure the content of web pages, XHTML, from code used to format that content for display in web browsing devices, CSS.

Establishing a clear distinction between a website's content and presentation layers yields several important benefits:

Accessibility

Content encoded in well structured web pages can be readily accessed by browsing devices other than the traditional desktop browser, such as mobile phones and PDAs. It can also be interpreted easily by assistive devices such as screenreaders, a fundamental requirement of website accessibility criteria enshrined in UK law through the Disability Discrimination Act.

Search engine ranking

Well crafted standards compliant web pages can be interpreted and indexed efficiently by search engines, securing higher rankings in search lisings such as Google and Yahoo.

Lighter pages

Standards compliant pages are lightweight files that download quickly and make less demand on web servers.

Easy maintenance

It is very easy to make adjustments to sites built using web standards. All presentational code is stored in one or two CSS files, which, when edited, can alter the appearance of every page on the site.