29 Apr, 2022 | Web Design Agency

What Are the Web Standards for Professional Web Design Development?

From plain HTML websites to interactive and responsive ones, we came a long way in this digital journey. But, it wouldn’t have been possible if we never had web standards. To help you with this jargon “web standards”, let me give you an example. Let’s consider you are building an ecommerce website, and you use a shopping cart as a symbol of the cart. Some other businesses are using a basket, while someone is using a vector image of the building or symbol of the product; will a user be able to understand what you are trying to convey. That would be impossible, as and when customers belong to different locations and speak different dialects. In such a situation, you have to create different websites to target your users in different regions, and that will create a more troublesome state. It will add to the budget as well as the headache of managing these many IPs. And, it’s not only about the layout and content in the front-end. In the same way, there is a distinction in the pattern of coding, security, responsiveness, web architecture, accessibility, and much more. In this blog, we will be taking all of these web standards topics one-by-one showing their need in importance for professional web design development. Web standards are nothing but formal specifications set by standard authorities to ease the usage of the internet for users, visitors, as well as developers. You surely like to know more about these authorities. Read More: Top 5 Designing Hacks That Site Web Designer Use to Improve Conversion

Who decides web standards for professional web design development?

The founder of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, led to the creation of W3C. W3C stands for World World Web Consortium. It is created with the mission to improvise the user experience over the web, irrespective of the browser or device it was accessed with. Back in the old days, when explorers use to work with different technologies, it was a disastrous experience for internet users. As those websites supported on Internet Explorer displayed in the deformed format on other browsers. It wasn’t a pleasing experience for users for sure. Later, other standard organizations like Ecma, IETF, WHATWG community came in support of W3C to introduce the web-standards that grew with the need of time. Now, we will walk you through the lane of web standards that every web design agency has to adhere:

Coding standards:

Do you know that even your code speaks a lot about your website? Well, as a non-tech person, you may not be aware of it. But, clean and concise code of the website can reduce the risk of getting bugs and make it trouble-free for the QA team to perform testing swiftly. The coding standards are a set of defined guidelines, code conventions, and programming styles adapted to write the source code of your project. With these guidelines, it will be easier for other professionals in the team to understand and work on the same project. If you are planning to outsource your exisitng project or looking for UI/UX designers, the coding standards can bring clarity. Even when distinct frameworks are used, language standards are also created to simplify the coding pattern of the website. Irrespective of you working as a freelancer or as a part of an organization, you must have an understanding of these standards to improve the overall performance of your website.

Graphics:

The standards for the graphic designing of your website talks about the front-end designing standards. Since interactive media is much more appealing to the users, in comparison to the static content, the creative mind needs to check with the graphic ideas that are generalized. Your website is created for laymen which is more generalized irrespective of the caste, creed, region, and religion.

The basic standards set W3C include:

- JPEG and PNG file format for images, so that they can open across the web normally.
- WebCGM and Webp format is set for vector graphics in order to manage the quality of the image and optimize the performance of the website.
- For data visualization, SVG is a pre-decided format to ease the editing of pictures in different editing software.

Such recommendations aren’t forcefully set to be followed, but they also improve the performance of designers by promoting device independence.

Web architecture:

The standards for the web architecture are specially set to enable interoperability across the devices, browsers, users and user mediums. It helps improve enterprise mobility, technical accessibility, and functionality. The basic set of standards are:

- URL and URI structure of the website.
- Sitemap that needs to be in the XML format.
- Data representation format with HTML/CSS
- Data transmission protocols like HTTP and HTTPS, TCP/IP
- Data encoding and secure payment standards like PCI DSS and so on.

Mobile responsiveness:

Though the idea of mobile responsiveness came only with the mobile-first approach, now, responsiveness is a more critical factor. The notion of responsiveness is to offer a flawless experience to your users irrespective of the device dimensions. Earlier, the size of the screen was standard. Thus, few of the companies started creating two prototypes of the website: one for mobile and other for the desktop screen. Now, with the arrival of a wide variety of screen sizes, it has become tricky. Also, Google’s algorithm started considering the responsiveness of the website as one of the key factors to rank the website. This automatically grew the need for standardization and adaptation for the idea of responsiveness.

Accessibility & security:

When you are designing the website to serve the need of every individual accessing the web, you have to think from everyone’s perspective. But, the perspective of all people can not be the same. And, that’s why, W3C created standards that can help all the individuals associated with the project, say, writers, designers, testers, trainers, policy creators, and so on. With a notion of creating “Web for all”, the standards are set for accessibility, internationalization, the privacy of the website, and care about the security of the website. When you are reading this, we believe that you are a part of the IT industry be it as a professional web developer, designer, marketing head, or someone else that is closely related to the worldwide web. We recommend you to connect with the W3C workgroups and community of standard organization to keep yourself updated with the latest changes and give your fair share of advice whenever you feel like change should come.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the key principles of web design standards, and how do they impact the user experience?

The key principles of web design standards include clarity, simplicity, consistency, and accessibility. These principles ensure that a website is easy to navigate and use, provides valuable information, and creates a positive user experience. Clarity ensures that the message of the website is clear and easy to understand, while simplicity cuts out unnecessary clutter and makes it easy for users to find what they need. Consistency ensures that the website maintains a uniform look and feel across all its pages, allowing users to easily recognize each element. Finally, accessibility ensures that the website is designed with all users in mind, taking into account factors such as visual impairments and disabilities to provide a seamless user experience for all. By adhering to these principles, web designers can create websites that not only look good but provide an engaging and intuitive user experience.

2. What are some of the most commonly used programming languages and frameworks for professional web design development?

Some of the most commonly used programming languages and frameworks for web design development in the United Kingdom include: 1. JavaScript - it's commonly used for client-side scripting and allows for interactive web pages and responsive user interfaces. 2. Python - it's a versatile language that's commonly used for back-end web development, machine learning, and data analysis. 3. PHP - it's a server-side programming language that's widely used in web development for dynamic content. 4. Ruby on Rails - it's a versatile web framework that's commonly used for rapid web application development. 5. HTML and CSS- these languages are foundation-level languages that are responsible for the basic structure and styling of websites. Other commonly used frameworks include Angular, React, Vue.js, and Laravel.

3. How do web design standards impact the accessibility and usability of web pages for individuals with disabilities?

Web design standards have a significant impact on the accessibility and usability of web pages for individuals with disabilities. The UK government requires all public sector websites and apps to meet the accessibility standards outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. These guidelines ensure that websites are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, making them accessible to individuals with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, and cognitive. Failure to comply with these standards may result in legal action and exclusion of disabled individuals from accessing important information and services. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that web design standards are followed to make online content accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities, and provide equal opportunities for all.

4. How can responsive design principles be applied to ensure web pages are accessible across various devices and screen sizes?

The best way to apply responsive design principles for web page accessibility on different devices is to adopt a mobile-first approach, which means designing a layout for mobile devices first before moving on to larger screen sizes. This involves prioritizing content that is essential for mobile users and optimizing it for smaller screens. Using fluid layouts and flexible images that can adapt to different screen sizes can also help ensure web pages are accessible across various devices. Testing on multiple devices and screen sizes can identify issues and allow for adjustments to be made accordingly to ensure an optimal user experience for all. Following accessibility guidelines such as WCAG 2.1 can also contribute to making web pages more accessible for a wider range of users.

5. How can web designers ensure that their web pages are optimized for search engines by following web standards?

Web designers can follow a few best practices to ensure their web pages are optimized for search engines by following web standards. Firstly, they can use clean and semantically correct HTML and CSS code. This makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index their pages. Secondly, they should make sure their web pages load quickly, as this can affect their search engine ranking. They can optimize images and use compression techniques to decrease load times. Thirdly, designers should use relevant and descriptive title tags and meta descriptions. This helps search engines understand what their web pages are about and display accurate information in their search results. Lastly, web designers can use structured data to help search engines understand the content of their web pages more clearly. This includes using schema.org markup for products, reviews, and other elements on their web pages.

Written by Daniel

Daniel is an Android App Developer at WEDOWEBAPPS. He has knowledge of Android App Development in various aspects of development. He is enthusiastic about the development and loves to write blogs on various aspects of development.