[Websg Meetup] Post Meetup Discussion

[Yuhui]

Hi Jim,

> Furthermore, this might ruffle some feathers, but as a developer, when
> coding a site, shouldn't we be coding the site with compliancy in mind?
> Correct me if I'm wrong, most time consuming portion during development is
> coding is usually to ensure our site display according to our layout we
> mocked. Accessibility issues, should have been accounted for when we code,
> eg. putting the alt attributes etc... so when it comes to testing, it'll
> more for aesthetic reasons than accessibility.

Speaking from my experience as a software developer (albeit a hobbyist
one): it is a dream for any developer (software, Web, other field) to
have a "develop once, develop right" (or more succinctly, "code once,
code right") mentality because we feel that we have sufficient
knowledge and experience to be able to avoid introducing bugs.

But as real life experience tells us, such a dream is far from the
truth. Buildings collapse, Windows has the BSOD, and Web sites fail
compliancy tests. In terms of Web development, it could be something
as simple as forgetting to add an accesskey, or when coding inline
(X)HTML in ECMA/JavaScript, we code something that fails validity.

That's why we test and debug constantly. And in my experience, testing
can take up to half (if not more) of the time spent on a project. And
since we charge by man-hours, more testing means more man-hours, which
leads to higher charges.

During the discussion, I also said that we can charge more for our
expertise in Web standards. But I feel that many clients, especially
small local ones, will balk at this because they don't see the value
in it. As I had mentioned, the primary concern in their minds is time,
not "future-proofness".

But I agree with you that we should structure our charges so that
clients don't feel the pinch as painfully. If we can show several
tangible benefits to the client, then I think it'll be easier to
"sell" Web standards compliance.

-- 
Yuhui     yuhuibc at gmail.com
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