Re: "valid [X]HTML x.x!" icons are Evil (was Re: Thanks a lot)

On Mon, 17 Dec 2001, Lloyd Wood wrote:

> > Consider this text:
> >
> >    "To show your readers that you have taken the care to create an
> >     interoperable Web page, you may display this icon on any page that
> >     validates.  Here is the HTML you could use to add this icon to
> >     your Web page."
>
> that should be 'you may want to display this icon'. w3C does not give
> permission and does not enforce use or misuse of the icon.

Isn't the purpose of the icon to propagate the notion that validation,
or more generally standards-compliance, is a Good Thing?

> What the W3C should be recommending is the inclusion of a link that
> automatically revalidates the page...

That not only loses the message: it also leaves webmasters vulnerable
to being validated and found wanting, in exactly the same way Mr
Tiggelaar has complained of.

> >     If you want to keep track of when you last checked the validity of
> >     this Web page, here is a comment suitable for adding to the page:
> >
> >     <!--
> >     W3C validation service <http://validator.w3.org/> results
> >     Valid XHTML 1.1 as of 2001-12-16 17:34:00-04
> >     -->

I should have thought a META element (or, more trendily, a LINK element
pointing to an RDF description) a better solution.

> nice idea - but nest <> in comments? urgh.
> and who reads comments anyway?

Comments aren't even meant to be read.  Pretty icons are.  Site Valet
now offers an alternative icon linking through to a much more general
report on a page, coupled with a reporting function that will actively
tell you if your page fails to validate - among other things.

> why isn't the validator e.g. an apache module that validates
> everything as it goes out and logs errors?

I've contemplated that.  But at the moment I'm more concerned about
trying to get some work that actually pays, preferably without
resorting to stacking shelves at safeways.

-- 
Nick Kew

Site Valet - the mark of Quality on the Web.
<URL:http://valet.webthing.com/>

Received on Monday, 17 December 2001 16:09:17 UTC