As the Internet moves from its haphazard, low-tech beginnings towards what some have called ‘the semantic web’, people are becoming ever more concerned with making their web pages and blogs (and the HTML and CSS code behind them) as high quality as possible, all in the name of Accessibility and Web Standards.
Burnout
Unfortunately, this could lead to a growing number of hitherto part-time or ‘hobbyist’ Webmasters suffering from burnout, just like top executives on Wall Street.
But for others the dangers can be more insidious: Web Standards, it seems, can lead to a debilitating condition known to psychologists as ‘OCD’ or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
OCD starts quite innocently, with a Webmaster genuinely wanting to make his or her site as near as possible to perfect. Unfortunately, in the real world, perfection is simply not possible for much of the time. (Many of my Webmaster acquaintances tell me that they can work for hours on their sites, only for a piece of Javascript or an ad revenue program to undo all their hard work.)
Addicted
Soon, however, the unfortunate Webmaster will feel an increasingly urgent need to run their site through one of the many online HTML validators. Ironically, people seem to start off by believing that a validator will actually save them time and extra work by instantly revealing their coding errors. But inevitably one validation check leads to another and before he knows it the Webmaster will have become paranoid about making even the slightest of errors. He will then go running to the validator even when there is no real need to do so. Our Webmaster is now, for want of any better word, addicted.
Disorders
It is important to note, before we go any further, that it is not the online validators or accessibility checkers that are at fault, but those who use them to excess. Validators cannot be banned, but people can be helped. Similarly, there are lots of people who suffer from eating disorders, but this doesn’t mean we should ban food. OCD is about the person rather than the thing that they are obsessed about. But having said that, it is equally important for Web Standards-related OCD to be recognised as harmful.
As their OCD takes hold, an addicted Webmaster will focus obsessively on ever smaller and less-relevant details, constantly changing their Doctype declarations or fretting over one tiny unencoded ampersand in a website over a hundred pages long. I have known some people who validate their pages over a hundred times a day! Eventually OCD has a devastating effect on their creative output and many Webmasters cease to make web pages altogether.
Am I at risk of OCD?
One early sign of someone who might develop OCD is the presence of lots of those little 80×15 blog validation buttons on their page. It is almost like wearing a badge to tell the world how healthy they are, when the reality is that they are actually far from healthy. Obsessive Webmasters are often people who have a low sense of self-worth; they feel the need to literally validate themselves by validating their blog or web page. Any errors, however insignificant, contribute further to their low self-esteem until the problem eventually spirals out of control.
What can I do to protect myself from OCD?
- Start by keeping a diary of how often you validate. See if you can spot a pattern in your validation habits. This will help you to break the cycle before it is too late.
- Be honest with yourself: Like an alcoholic, a ‘validation junkie’ must first admit to themselves that they need help; it cannot be successfully imposed from outside. Being honest in the early stages might help you to stop a problem before it gets too bad.
- Take small steps towards freeing yourself from validation: Let one unencoded ampersand go uncorrected every day. Soon you will have several errors on your page. But you will feel stronger because it will be you, not a tiny little piece of code, that is in charge again.
- Remove the <label> tag from some of your forms. (This one is for Web Accessibility fanatics only.) Do not put an apology notice up on your blog or sheepishly remove your validation buttons. Instead, let the world see that it is ok to have a few errors from time to time. Let people see that you can live with your imperfections.
- Downshift to an old ‘HTML 4 Transitional’ Doctype. If you are feeling really empowered, you might even want to find solace in frames.
- Finally, get rid of your Doctype altogether. Join the company of other web standards drop-outs at the Tag Soup kitchens.
I Love Web Standards. (No, really!)
But don’t get me wrong. I love Web Standards as much as the next geek. To me, online validators are like nuclear energy: of great benefit if used wisely. But potentially very harmful if used to excess. The danger is that those who are obsessive about Web Standards and validation focus on validation rather than on good content. And ultimately it is good content, rather than correctly coded ampersands, that keeps the Web alive.
Alice Tappart is a UK-based researcher in the field of human behaviour, with a special interest in the effects of advanced technology on interpersonal communications. She is currently writing a thesis on horological semiotics. Alice Tappart can be found at http://2plusdesigns.blogsome.com/
