XHTML/CSS
At 5D we hand code our websites using XHTML and CSS. Here we tell you a bit more about what these scary looking acronyms actually are and we explain why we use them.
XHTML
Prior to the development and release of XML, HTML was the most successful mark-up language created by the IT community for use in web design. It was easy to learn, free to use and develop, and its use had become widespread and thus it became an essential component of almost every website on the internet. The appeal of HTML had led to almost every web browser supporting the language and its loose use of coding syntax was flexible without compromising rigorous industry standards. But when XML was introduced to various web industry professionals and experts, much debate occurred over whether a new mark-up language was required to allow more seamless integration and thus XHTML was formed.
When XHTML was introduced, having an XML based HTML allowed for other XML and mark up languages to be used within XHTML documents, improving the functionality and potential of the created document. The meant a significant improvement to weaknesses which could be found within the old HTML structure, allowing for greater accessibility and sustainability. As website application has become increasingly more complex as time goes on, the move towards XML and the wide spread adoption of XHTML practice will increase. The sophisticated nature of XHTML and the support it offers to a number of different applications means that slowly but surely, more intricate and complicated web sites can be designed and developed in this revolutionary new code.
Because of the compliance standards of XML, various programs can convert XML documents into a number of different file types including PDF and RSS, allowing for much greater ease of information sharing across a wide range of formats and mediums. Information can even be shared in this manner offline, allowing for a valuable consistency of style across any aspect of your work.
XHTML is great for beginners and professionals alike, making every step in the design, management and maintenance process easy, simple and cost effective, no matter who takes care of it. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned expert or a design novice, it is an accessible code which is why its use is quickly becoming widespread. It allows for more precise design and customisation, producing far better quality websites. Its popularity is understandable- if your website appears professional, cutting edge and up-to-date with current standards and practices, you’re bound to see an increase in users and potential customers. This is why 5D’s web design team use XHTML for our site- to deliver a better product for our clients.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
What is CSS?
A cascading style sheet (CSS) is used to improve the manageability of the design aspect of any website content presentation. Using CSS, web developers can assign different ways of website content being displayed. CSS allows for multiple properties to be defined within a common style class and then defined for use in multiple locations through a website’s design.
Advantages of CSS
By separating the content in your site from its presentation, CSS gives a designer much more control over the publication of content through various formats. These parameters can include user preferences such as web browser preference, geographic location, method of access and much more.
In the modern multimedia world, with access to the internet moving away from traditional mediums like desktop computers and onto other devices such as mobile phones, net books, media players and your television, it’s vitally important to be sure that your content is going to be displayed in the right way regardless of how it’s accessed. By allowing your content to be published seamlessly, based on pre-defined access parameters you can have peace of mind knowing that your website is presenting and communicating information in the best possible way, no matter how it’s accessed now or in the future.
By using industry standards in coding practice and design, CSS allows for style sheets to be cached by internet browsers. This allows for fast and easy access to the same globally defined design elements used when displaying HTML content through a website, increasing accessibility to your web services further.
This streamlined approach to website design minimises the amount of code needed to give a fluid, professional look that is easy to change and maintain consistently throughout a domain. The use of less code in the design development also lowers bandwidth consumption improving website performance and cost efficiency for your services.
The simplistic approach to maintenance that CSS offers is one of the other outstanding advantages to including it within your website. Previously, if you wanted to change a specific style property in the layout of your site, each change would have to be inserted manually through the body of the website’s code. With CSS, styles can be defined globally, allowing for any change in a web design’s style properties being echoed seamlessly throughout the entire website wherever needed.
The steadily rising increase in content management service support with CSS means that no matter who is responsible for updating your websites, corporate blog, online products, news bulletins or other content can do so in a quick and cost effective way allowing live, on-demand alterations and administration to be made to your domain from anywhere in the world with a minimum of technical knowledge required by the person responsible. CSS gives you the power to be able to take control of updating your own website with a minimum of training and without any specialist IT skills.