Validate your web pages!

If you create your own web pages, you should validate them to make sure the code is correct for the web "document type" (DOCTYPE) you have specified. If you don't specify a DOCTYPE, one gets assigned by default.

Online tools let you check:

• The HTML code
• The CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) code
• Accessibility by the handicapped

If you buy a web design creation service instead of creating your own, it's still a good idea to see if the firms' code passes these checks. Validators usually refer you to a specific line in the code so you can locate and fix problems.

Below are a few links to get you started. You might also want to read, "Should you validate your web page?"

HTML validators

• HTML and XHTML Validator by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
• CSE HTML Validator Lite
• W3C Link Checker - checks for bad links
• HTML, XHTML, WML, XML validator
  

CSS Validators

• W3C CSS Validator
• WDG CSS Check
  

Accessibility checkers

• AccMonitor online
• HiSoft Cynthia Says
• WebAIM's WAVE
• WebXACT
• Accessibility Valet
• LIFT Online - 5-pages evaluated free