Validation

Validation

Validation is the process of checking data against a standard or requirement.

The term is commonly used when:

  • Quality assuring a webpage at a technical level (code validation), or
  • Checking the information entered by a person when sending information or using an online service (form validation).

Code validation
Webpage validation involves checking the code used to create a webpage (markup), against a computer-language specification.

A language specification sets out the parts of the language, and how the language can be used to write instructions that can be understood (processed or parsed) by a computer.

Languages commonly used to write (author) webpages include:

  • Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
  • Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)
  • Extensible Markup Language (XML)
  • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Validation and accessibility:
Specification-based validation is comparable to a grammar-check. Although words (elements) may be spelt correctly (use the correct tags) and be drawn from the same language, without appropriate grammar (structure) they can be meaningless.

For content to be accessible, the author must markup content into elements that convey the meaning of the content (semantic-markup).

Semantic markup can be used as a 'hook' by assistive technologies that enable users with disabilities to access web content, for example:

  • using a screen reader, the H key can be used to move between headings to quickly scan the content of a webpage
  • markup that is well-formed is more likely to be correctly interpreted by a screen reader

Valid markup does not necessarily make for accessible web content. [3]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References: [1]www.designtalkboard.com [2]www.webopedia.com [3]www.motive.co.nz [4]www.joedolson.com [5]www.wikipedia.org [6]www.beseenwebdesign.com [7]www.launchmark.com [8]www.101webbuilders.com [9]www.answers.com [10]www.usabilityfirst.com [11]www.designer-info.com

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