The Invalid CSS Validator: A Joke Explained
There are two schools of thought (read: trite one-liners) when a joker is the only one laughing. The joker’s: “The last to laugh thinks slowest.” The audience’s: “If you have to explain, it wasn’t funny.” In this instance, perhaps both are accurate.
My site was recently featured on the Best Web Gallery and soon thereafter a flame war broke out about my little joke. Namely, there’s an icon with a red “x” next to a link used to check the validation of any given page’s CSS.
As well quoted by Anthony Bruno, Jeffrey Way once said, “The main point of validation is to know that you are doing something correctly.” [citation needed] Mr. Bruno also asked, “Why is there this trend of providing the little acknowledgements at the bottom of these pages displaying weather or not a site is valid?”
![[citation needed]](http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/3/31/Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png){kind=link}
Herein lies the joke, I agree that validation is good and that prominent little links are pretty stupid.
The W3C has kindly made available tools with which to validate numerous things—the two most popular being for Markup and CSS. By appending check/referer/ these links may be included on any publicly-accessible page as a shortcut. Quite handy little (de)buggers.
It has become a trend for the standards-savvy Webelos of the web-developer world to have their sites prominently display that they pass validation. The thing to keep in mind is that these tools are just tools. They’re useful insofar as they tell the developer using them whether or not they are doing things correctly. But, the public display of this information is about as useful as a merit badge for breathing.
Where’s the punch line?
Enter vendor-specific extensions. These prefixes allow vendors to begin the implementation of CSS3 properties or proprietary experiments in such a way as to leave the rest of the browsers out there well enough alone. While these extensions are known and allowed by the W3C spec, their validator currently chokes on them.
In short: My CSS is valid, but it doesn’t validate. That little red “x” is just my light-hearted 56-pixel raspberry at the Webelos and their tool.
Flame if you will, but forgive me my chuckle.
Comments: 11
Well put.
Brilliance, I say! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Like, really, I couldn’t have.
Very well said.
I think you’re missing the trick, which is a general raised awareness of the W3C and web standards.
It probably would have been funnier if the x was blue, right? Or no, chartreuse.
@neil_pie: Raised awareness among whom? Anymore, every XHTML/CSS phreak worth his salt already knows and users should never have to.
@nathan: Hey, there you go. Green “x”, red check.
While I agree with both of your statements there, I can’t help but get the feeling that you’re viewing a different internet to me.
The one I spend the majority of my time staring at is built horribly. I’m assuming by people who aren’t worth their salt and who either don’t really know what they are doing something incorrectly or simply don’t care. I also believe there is a possibility that they might be being paid by somebody who either doesn’t know that these standards exist or doesn’t understand their importance - being happy to part with how ever many $$ their web designer is charging them to build a site that looks good in Internet Explorer.
The motivation behind many of these validation links peppering the footers of the internet may be a little suspect, I agree.
To my mind, however, every one of them is one more chance that some new programmer not yet worth their salt, or some prospective web site owner that thinks the internet begins and ends with IE discovers the existence (and importance) of something called ‘web standards’
Surely that’s a good thing?
I feel that the main point here, and the one raised in Best Web Gallery is yes, looking forward it is good be a step ahead of the game with web standards, I myself have been researching and testing in CSS3 and cannot wait to start implementing it, and dont get me wrong, I think your site is very nice and well designed. But from an accessible webdesign point of view your are basically (in the present day) neglecting the users who havent or more importantly ‘cannot’ upgrade their systems. Schools for example, businesses and so on running machines with limited controls. I think with such a high percentage of users presently still using IE of some discription, it is not a good idea to totally write them off. Its kind of like the digital revolution, it is coming, just slowly. But I suppose, when is the right time to say sod it, I am not going to design for IE6 anymore? Anyhow, I do appreciate the joke and it is in turn quite quirky and clever, but also perhaps a little to soon for some people?…
@Rob: Perhaps it is a little too soon. At the same time I think by continuing to support IE6 for everyone we’re only prolonging the problem, as I mention in my next post.
Thanks for your post, I particularly liked the “The main point of validation is to know that you are doing something correctly.” When I first started doing xhtml/css I thought it was all about the validation and if I did that I was set. While it’s taught me a lot and I still do it and will continue to do it I think my impetus for doing so has changed. I too thought of the little links at the bottom for xhtml and css would appeal to my customers as a trusted site, kind of like the BBB (Better Business Bureau) as well as for being part of the cool kids table.
I’ve come to find that most of my smaller clients couldn’t give a rats or have no idea what they are. The larger clients I think pay more attention to the code but few would follow through or care if their sites really did validate. To most customers it’s all about the money and if they make money without validating they don’t care. So as my name indicates I’ve become a bit of a weary Webelow now and don’t really think about the links anymore other than it keeps me honest. Those little links make it easy for me to check that I haven’t messed something up when I add new stuff to my site, especially if I don’t want to move my mouse all the way up to my developer toolbar. ;-)
In the end I think it’s about taking pride in your work and helping you to find some place where you might have fat fingered the code. Thanks.
I forgot the URL to your website, but this post stuck out in my mind. “css invalid blog” on Google sent me here! First result.
:)