There are no excuses for ignoring web standards. And no real professional would ignore the basic requirements for doing a good job. Using standards can help us in the future, by limiting the number of “adjustments” made for each and every browser. You can’t do everything right, but there is a good point in trying doing some stuff. And about the accessibility – a person ignoring it should be living inside a closed room with no connection to the real world.

It is frustrating to see so many “web designers” ignoring standards. I think we need to do a better job of spreading the message and convincing these people that standards compliant design methods are worth learning. There are millions of people selling web design who don’t even seem to know what professionalism means, and Standards are just a small part of that.

Validation isn’t an end result or a final deliverable; it’s an ongoing process that continues long after a site launches. If we don’t put the proper tools and commitment in place, our work will start looking like a late ‘90s throwback, and if we don’t provide guidance and education on validation, the polished, perfect pages we produced will be of little use.