I recently added a "valid HTML" badge to my footer. My friend Charles Roper shared an article with me called Using HTML Validator Badges Again, which is what inspired it. I want to explain why I love everything about this.
There was a time on the Internet when websites wore badges of honor, declaring that their code was semantic and followed the W3C guidelines. The validators we used weren’t great (and still aren’t perfect) but they represented a community that took pride in caring about the quality of their work. I think it’s time we bring HTML badges back.
Hell fucking yes! 👏
Why wouldn't you want to take pride in the quality of your work? It's not enough for a website (or web app) to just look nice. It needs to follow a specific set of standards. A car might look nice, but that doesn't mean it functions properly under the hood.
I am extremely proud of my semantic markup and A11Y practices. I may not get it right every time, but it's my number-one concern on all projects. A website should be accessible in its pure HTML form. Without a solid foundation, everything else comes crashing down.
I strongly recommend reading the full article. 👍