Web Designer Declaration of Independence

by Chet

I’m a huge fan of Web Design standards, and if I could I’d love to work with the W3C more closely. I believe that all Web developers, designers and users should follow their standards and stop taking petty shortcuts. Apparently I’m not alone; I’ve optimistically assumed that I never was alone in this.
Sam Dunn over on Build Internet has taken the time to develop The Web Designer Declaration of Independence, and it’s awesome.
The list of grievances are totally worth taking a gander at:

  1. Myspace, which has empowered people everywhere to bring back the Geocities days of tiled backgrounds and animated GIFs. And sparkle text… so much sparkle text.
  2. The Internet Marketer, their presence on Twitter, and their continued vague solicitations to “Market your internet”.
  3. The pixel pusher client, because that one art class you took in college does not qualify you to “make the design better” by shifting everything 2 pixels to the left.
  4. The family friend that gives you the “honor” of doing a free website for them. (Just wait, it will be the iTunes and Facebook killer – all in one).
  5. Internet Explorer and everything it stands for.
  6. Web 2.0 graphics, in all their high gloss, beveled, gradient covered, badge-y glory.
  7. The use of meaningless stock photography, because a person and three of their coworkers are never that excited about what’s happening on a computer monitor. Stop pointing at it.
  8. Tables used to layout an entire website with no tabular data. CSS was invented for a reason, quit using a candle when you have a lightbulb
  9. “Dime a dozen” companies that “optimize SEO, innovate solutions, accessibility your HTML, scalability your Photoshop, and buzzword your buzzword. Oh yeah…unsurpassed quality too.”
  10. Comic Sans.

For the full text of the declaration, and to sign it please visit Build Internet.