- From: Chuck Houpt <chuck@habilis.net>
- Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2025 21:04:49 -0400
- To: Jonathan Meersman <meersmaj@matc.edu>
- Cc: www-validator@w3.org
Hi Jonathan, I think the blocking is due to mod_sec security rules on your website, which are blocking the Validator based on user-agent string. You can test this with Curl: > % curl --user-agent 'W3C_Validator/1.3 libwww-perl/6.68' https://creatematc.com > Error 406 - Not Acceptable > > Generally a 406 error is caused because a request has been blocked by Mod Security. If you believe that your request has been blocked by mistake please contact the web site owner. The "libwww" is likely the string being blocked. You or your sysadmins should be able to adjust the security rules to allow Validator access. As an immediate work-around, you could directly use the post-HTML4 sub-validator, Nu (which uses a different user-agent string): https://validator.w3.org/nu/ https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fcreatematc.com Cheers - Chuck > On Aug 28, 2025, at 5:05 PM, Jonathan Meersman <meersmaj@matc.edu> wrote: > > Hello. I teach web design classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College. I have referred students to the HTML Validation Markup Service at https://validator.w3.org/ for many years to help them get into good habits. Last year, I noticed that we could no longer validate by pasting the URL as it looks like our domain name creatematc.com is now blocked. Is there any way to unblock it so that students can continue to learn and get into good habits? > > Thanks, > > Jonathan > ____________________________________________________________ > Jonathan Meersman, Instructor > Web & Digital Media Design and Front-End Web Developer Programs > Creative Arts, Design & Media Pathway > Milwaukee Area Technical College > Phone: 414.297.6289 > meersmaj@matc.edu >
Received on Monday, 1 September 2025 10:01:39 UTC