Web standards aim to ensure that websites are usable without errors. Yet, it is nearly impossible to find a site on the web that meets web standards and can be accessed without errors.

Testing any random site with the official validator of the Web Consortium (W3C), the question is never if there are errors, but how many.

The consequences of faulty code are undisputed:

  • Content is not always displayed consistently. Interactive elements and functions do not work reliably everywhere.
  • Content is difficult to access for people with disabilities (which can have legal consequences).
  • Content is harder to index for search engines (which affects ranking).
  • Content cannot be retrieved efficiently (leading to higher bounce rates).
  • Content cannot be processed efficiently by browsers (resulting in increased CO2 emissions with each page view).

Validation

Errors in web code can be easily detected with the validator of the Web Consortium (W3C), the official body for web standards. Just enter the address and all errors are listed clearly.

The validator differentiates between "errors" (major violations of web standards), "warnings" (significant issues that can lead to partial problems), and "info-messages" (optimizable points that improve the use of a website).

Content Management System Problem

With a traditional Content Management System, it is almost impossible to create web pages that comply with standards. Not even their providers manage to do so. Validating their homepages reveals long lists of errors. For instance, WordPress shows 173 notifications with 24 errors (major violations of web standards), 19 warnings (significant issues), and 112 info-messages (optimizable points).

No single Content Management System passes the test:

Symfony

19

4 / 4 / 11

Django

25

8 / 0 / 17

Joomla!

30

4 / 5 / 21

Typo3

65

4 / 10 / 51

Concrete5

69

6 / 17 / 46

Drupal

128

31 / 20 / 77

Jimdo

166

103 / 1 / 62

WordPress

173

42 / 19 / 112

Weebly

198

102 / 14 / 82

Squarespace

276

136 / 23 / 117

Wix

407

193 / 48 / 166

GoDaddy

704

609 / 46 / 49

Validation of the home pages of notable Content Management Systems with the W3C Validator on 2.2.2024. Left column: total notifications. Right column: errors / warnings / information on optimizable points.

What practical bridge technologies exist to make CMS-based knowledge resources compliant with standards?

Resource
Check