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Re: Creating Valid Code

for

From: Elle
Date: Sep 8, 2011 9:24PM

I meant to add this small footnote:

* we also used that opportunity to build in some usability requirements to
get closer to the true goal for accessibility :)



On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 11:24 PM, Elle < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Ryan:
>
> If it helps, I can give you my perspective at a large company with over
> 30,000 employees. Until just last year, we were struggling to justify the
> effort to insist on W3C valid code. Most of the concerns involved increased
> development costs, additional testing, and blowing up project time lines.
> Keeping in mind that not all companies have the same challenges, most large
> organizations also outsource a great deal of development to contracted labor
> who may or may not be familiar with W3C standards. So, there's an undeniable
> cost to establishing web standards like W3C valid markup. And what did it
> really get us? That was the main question that needed answering.
>
> When we were building our web accessibility program last year, we decided
> to use that moment to incorporate W3C validity* into our accessibility
> requirements. As John said, "code validation, in-and-of-itself, may have
> very little impact on true accessibility." But, it does represent a
> paradigm shift for IT teams: semantic markup matters. Previously, like many
> fast moving big companies, we would build (largely ASP.NET) web
> applications rapidly with wireframes and visual mock-ups for agile
> requirements. There wasn't much consideration or scrutiny over what was
> "under the hood" when it came time to show our business partners what we had
> created for them, as long as it performed as was requested. Web
> accessibility changed all that, as it has a way of getting up close and
> personal with an individual's source code. Accessibility requires
> transparency. So, while we're under the hood, why not create a stronger
> foundation for cross-browser operability and device independence? We figured
> if we did it right, we wouldn't have to continually chase the latest browser
> versions with code updates.
>
> Since that time, we've found that creating this base level requirement (all
> code must validate through W3C with a testing artifact that's loaded into
> our Software Development Life Cycle) has streamlined our development process
> and reduced the pesky defects we used to encounter during user acceptance
> testing. That's a quantifiable cost savings. Progressive enhancement and
> MVC as a design pattern have made that easier to achieve and even cheaper.
> We do have exceptions for third party source code (example: vendors who
> supply scripts), but that's a different battle to fight.
>
> Hope that helps,
> Elle
>
> --
> If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the people to gather wood,
> divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast
> and endless sea.
> - Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
>
>


--
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the people to gather wood, divide
the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and
endless sea.
- Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince