How can you maintain web development standards across platforms and devices?

1 Use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript validators

One of the simplest ways to check if your web code follows the standards is to use validators. Validators are online tools or software that analyze your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code and report any errors, warnings, or deviations from the specifications. Validators can help you identify and fix syntax, grammar, spelling, formatting, and compatibility issues that might affect your web page's functionality or appearance. Some popular validators are W3C Markup Validation Service, W3C CSS Validation Service, and JSHint.

2 Follow responsive web design principles

Responsive web design is an approach that aims to make web pages adapt to different screen sizes and orientations, using flexible layouts, images, and media queries. Responsive web design can help you create web pages that look good and work well on various devices, from desktops to smartphones. To follow responsive web design principles, you should use relative units (such as percentages, ems, or rems) instead of absolute units (such as pixels or points) for your layout elements, use scalable vector graphics (SVG) or responsive images (such as srcset or picture) for your graphics, and use media queries to apply different styles depending on the device's width, height, resolution, or orientation.

3 Test your web pages on different browsers and devices

Another way to ensure that your web pages meet the standards and work as intended is to test them on different browsers and devices. Testing can help you detect and resolve any cross-browser or cross-device compatibility issues that might affect your web page's performance, functionality, or appearance. You can use various tools and methods to test your web pages, such as browser developer tools, browser extensions, online testing services, emulators, simulators, or real devices. Some examples of testing tools are BrowserStack, LambdaTest, Chrome DevTools, and Firefox Developer Tools.

4 Use web development frameworks and libraries

Web development frameworks and libraries are collections of code and resources that provide predefined functionality and structure for your web projects. They can help you save time and effort, as well as follow the standards and best practices of web development. Web development frameworks and libraries can offer various features and benefits, such as templating, routing, data binding, components, animations, accessibility, testing, and documentation. Some examples of web development frameworks and libraries are Bootstrap, React, Angular, Vue, jQuery, and Sass.

5 Follow web accessibility guidelines

Web accessibility is the practice of making web pages and applications accessible and usable by people with disabilities or impairments, such as vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive disabilities. Web accessibility can also benefit people with situational limitations, such as low bandwidth, small screens, or noisy environments. Web accessibility can help you reach a wider audience, improve your SEO ranking, and comply with legal requirements. To follow web accessibility guidelines, you should use semantic HTML elements, provide alternative text for images and media, use contrast and color schemes that are easy to read, provide keyboard navigation and focus indicators, use captions and transcripts for audio and video content, and use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes to enhance the accessibility of dynamic web elements. You can use tools such as WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool), Lighthouse, or axe to evaluate and improve your web accessibility.

6 Keep up with web development trends and updates

Finally, to maintain web development standards, you should keep up with the latest trends and updates in the web development industry. Web development is a dynamic and evolving field that constantly introduces new technologies, features, and standards. You should stay informed and updated about the changes and developments that affect your web projects, such as new browser versions, new web APIs, new CSS properties, new JavaScript features, new security protocols, or new web design patterns. You can use various sources and resources to keep up with web development trends and updates, such as blogs, podcasts, newsletters, forums, courses, or conferences. Some examples of web development sources and resources are CSS-Tricks, Smashing Magazine, Web Dev Weekly, CodePen Radio, MDN Web Docs, or Frontend Masters.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?