The Good, the Bad, and the Mandatory

A crash course on HTML.

HTML is a Doctype, which tells a browser how to read the page.  There are specific types of HTML.  Different versions, and different levels of form in each.  The most strict does not allow for things such as fonts to be changed, but the format is a lot more forgiving.  This also means it is possible for designers to start to become lazy and start writing bad code for the site.  The less strict forms allow for more things to be changed but also need to follow a more strict code so that the browser will still be able to read it.

Of the strict types of HTML, XHTML combines HTML and XML and has a laundry list of "Do Not"s.  If they were not as strict, many of these web pages, designed for mobile phones, would not display correctly simply because the phones don't have the power to do it.

On a similar note, it is important that a site is appealing and knows how to appeal to their specific audience.  Smashing Magazine did a nice piece which shares some input on what a typical audience will or will not do.  Things such as putting important information above the fold and knowing how viewers eyes will move around the page are important to know.

 http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/synd/2001/08/28/doctype.html?page=1
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_xhtml.asp
http://html5doctor.com/html-5-boilerplates/
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/24/10-useful-usability-findings-and-guidelines/