Validation & Standards

In 1998, The Web Standards Project (A grassroots coalition, entirely voluntary and not for profit) helped end the browser wars by persuading Netscape, Microsoft and other browser manufacturers to accurately support standards.

Building websites that follow standards will guarantee the appearance and behavior of our web sites in all browsers. They will also be easier to update, optimised for search engines, be more efficient in loading, forward compliant and provide better access to users with accessibility needs.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have documentation of the technologies used to support these standards.

Trinity of web standards

Briefly, in the world of web standards, structure, presentation and behavior are the three components of any web page:

Structure is the actual coding of the page - HTML, XHTML or XML.
Presentation is the style sheet attached to your site to alter how it visually appears using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Behavior is a standard object model that enables developers to create effects and behaviors that work across multiple platforms and browsers.

Page Validation

All of the new CSU Templates are XHTML transitional. Your website will validate correctly on handover from the Web Design and Development Team. It is the Page Curator's responsibility to ensure all pages that are updated after handover continue to pass W3C validation requirements.

A validation service is available through the W3C website to enable you to test your pages and ensure ongoing validation of your website after each change you make.

A successfully validated page will generate this message:

Validation W3C

Please ensure you check your updated pages with the W3C Validator after each edit you make to your website. If your page generates an error message please fix the problem and re-validate. Should you need further assistance please contact the DIT Service Desk.

CSU Style Guide