Searching for Standards
By Molly E. Holzschlag | September 8th, 2005 | Filed in HTML/XHTML, Validation, Web Standards (general)
Skip to comment formI did a small comparative analysis of markup practices at several major search engines. It’s interesting to note that only one engine is using valid markup and CSS layouts, and that would be MSN. Close behind is AOL, whose validation problems are mostly related to ampersands not being escaped, and HotBot, who have a few easily corrected errors.
| Engine | Markup Language | Table Layouts or CSS? | Markup Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alta Vista | Presentational HTML, no DOCTYPE |
Tables | Does Not Validate |
| AOL (beta) | XHTML 1.0 Transitional | CSS | Does Not Validate (mostly due to ampersands not being escaped) |
| Excite | Presentational HTML, HTML 4.01 DOCTYPE |
Tables | Does Not Validate |
HTML, no DOCTYPE |
Tables | Does Not Validate | |
| HotBot | XHTML 1.0 Strict | CSS | Does Not Validate but only a few conformance errors |
| Lycos | Presentational HTML, no DOCTYPE |
Tables | Does Not Validate |
| MSN | XHTML 1.0 Strict | CSS | Validates |
| Yahoo! | HTML 4.01 Transitional with presentational and proprietary elements and attributes in use, partial DOCTYPE |
CSS | Does Not Validate |
With the exception of Yahoo! which I know has progressive developers examining markup issues, it’s curious to think that many search engines and portals, which tend to be highly trafficked, haven’t been exposed to the benefits of Web standards.
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