Back in the early 90's, as the internet was being shaped and HTML was still a foreign acronym to most, a "standards" organization known as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was formed. The purpose of the W3C was to develop certain standards for HTML to follow. This was vitally important because different vendors had begun creating their own versions of HTML with their own features. So the W3C worked to get all these vendors to agree on supporting the same set of components and principles. Fast forward to today -- the W3C is still setting standards for website coding, and although most sites do not conform completely to their standards, most follow them to some degree or another.
Now I'm a pragmatist and contrarian. In the past, when web designers/developers touted the necessity of validating website code to W3C standards, I would resist. I would claim that it didn't matter as long as your website simply worked with all the major browsers. Besides, I reasoned, why spend all the extra time validating your site when 99% of your visitors won't even know? However, as I began to honestly consider the benefits of validated code, I realized that I was wrong to simply dismiss it. Furthermore, I also decided that I should convert this site to validated code (which I am still in the midst of doing right now). So why am I spending the extra hours validating my code?
Professionalism
Will a normal visitor check if your code is validated? No. Will other designers/developers and potential employers/partners? Maybe. In fact, in my experience, most larger public companies specifically request standards-based HTML/CSS when reviewing job applicants. It may not be required for a properly running website, but it will win some respect from others in the industry.
The Mobile Revolution
You may have tested a site on Explorer/Firefox/Safari/Opera, but the fact is, there are increasingly more ways for people to browse your site, many of which don't have the abundant resources to properly parse invalid code. Mobile devices are a prime example, often recreating websites to best suit their interface. If your website is poorly written, there is a better chance of it not displaying correctly on devices such as phones or PDAs.
They Want Your Data
Just as more mobile devices are surfing the web, there are also more data services needing to know what data your website has. The primary examples of this are search engines. Granted, most search engine spiders are pretty good about figuring out your site content, but why make it harder on them? And why preclude the possibility of other data services out there that rely on valid code?
Another Five Years?
Although valid code is certainly not future-proof, it is definitely your safest bet against future browsers. Anyone who had to scramble and change their HTML after IE7 came out understands, as IE7 interpreted a few things differently than IE6 -- but if your code had been valid, you'd have been fine. As browsers should be working towards W3C standards compliance, writing valid code should only help you in the future.
Good Habits
For programmers, it's a good habit to properly structure and document your code. For designers, it's a good habit to name and structure layers while leaving effects on their own layers and not the original image. And for website builders, it's a good habit to use valid code, making you more disciplined and your site more structured. Not only will it make maintenance a little easier, but you'll get better at it with time (instead of reinforcing your bad habits). And eventually, it won't be that much of a hassle anymore.
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