The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are strict and comprehensive. But still, the web is awash with non-compliant sites, browser-specific code and all kinds of platform-dependant functionality. Why should we adhere to the WCAG? Why should we try to save the world?

Well, for starters, I'm not suggesting we try to. Although I'm a standards zealot, I hardly boycott sites that aren't compliant. Nor do I refuse to use a site if it only works fully in IE. I either put up with broken functionality (for the record, I use Opera) or I fire up IE for site-speficic session. But there is a lot more benefits to following guidelines and standards than simple cross-browser compatibility. But that's where I'm going to start.

The Three Big Players

Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera. All manner of arguments have been made for and against using each of these browsers. But let's face it - not one of these will disappear any time soon. Regardless of how you feel about them, there will be people using these browsers to view your sites.

I do try to code a site that looks as identical as possible across these browsers. It's very straight forward - although I use <div> tags and CSS exclusively (except for tabular data) there's not a lot stopping you. You don't need dirty hacks to make things work - just learn the differences in CSS implementations and try to avoid them if possible.

But the WCAG won't let each browser display a perfect copy if you adhere to every one of the guidelines. But that's actually a good thing. This brings me to the first point of the WCAG I want to raise: Font Familes and Relative Sizing.