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November 15, 2002

Validating the Daring Fireball

In his article "A Valid Point", John Gruber provides a reasonable (if tart) rundown of what Web validation's all about. My own attempt at explaining standards and the process of upholding them was a nervewracking experience of t-crossing and i-dotting I hope to never repeat.

Gruber's account deserves a bookmarking for anyone interested in using HTML. Validation is an important part of the process of upholding standards and making the Web a decent experience. Even if the little "I'm compliant!" badges and buttons littering pages can be the mark of sour-faced puritans with dismally painful senses of self-importance, standards matter (even when you're still puzzling over how to comply with them yourself) and it's refreshing to read about them in decent English.

Gruber also gets good notice for using a blog (if that's what you want to call it... I'm sick of the word) to bring some real light to an issue instead of barfing up a hairball of speculation and calling it an "old media" killer. He's been wrong about some stuff, but he's trying and he responds to fact-checking, which is all any pro can do.