Do you follow web standards?

Another important—but usually overlooked—feature is our use of Web standards. These standards include using XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript in established (and creative) ways that ensure your site is viewable by all standards-compliant browsers, including screen readers and other devices for the visually impaired.

WorkSpaceWeb CMS outputs valid XHTML 1.1 Transitional. We also use unobtrusive JavaScript and AJAX to affect behaviors in web pages (e.g., cascading menus or flowing images).

Using CSS to style your templates and content means your pages only contain XHTML tables where appropriate: with tabular data. We no longer design sites using the old "nested tables" trick, opting instead for clean CSS-based design. The Web would be a lot better community if everyone followed suit.

Recommended reading on web standards:

CSS Zen Garden - a website, wiht a great visual introduction to why web standards matters specifically to web design.

Designing with Web Standards (2nd Edition) by Jeffrey Zeldman.

Web Standards Creativity: Innovations in Web Design with XHTML, CSS, and DOM Scripting by Andy Budd, Andy Clarke, Ian Lloyd, and Cameron Adams.

Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS by Dan Cederholm.

Stylin' with CSS: A Designer's Guide (2nd Edition) by Charles Wyke-Smith.