Coders are slacking when it comes to web standards — and that simply won't do in the AI age

A recent project called ValidateHTML has revealed a worrying lack of adherence to web standards among the most popular websites. The project, led by French developer Théo Ducreux, analyzed the 5,000 most visited domains based on the Tranco list. The findings show that only 53% of these sites have human-readable home pages, while nearly 90% violate W3C web standards, including HTML5 specifications.

W3C and the WHATWG, comprising major tech companies, established web standards to ensure websites are accessible to everyone, including those with accessibility challenges. However, 33% of the examined sites have accessibility issues, which could lead to non-compliance and potential fines.

The ValidateHTML project submitted each of the 5,000 websites to the HTML5 validation tool at html-validate.org, checking only home pages and not checkouts or CMS-generated articles. Only 12.8% of the sites had "fully valid HTML," with 87.2% having HTML violations. The results suggest that in the AI age, adhering to web standards is more critical than ever.

AI bots prefer human-readable material, indicating that the site is intended for people. Moreover, meeting web standards can prevent future problems and potentially attract clients or managers who prioritize human-readable content.