Web Advice is a free independent service that believes in accessibility and a minimum standard for all. We aim to educate people who are less familiar with the coding and structure of the web, so that they can maximise the potential of their own sites, and allow their visitors the accessibility and standards they deserve. We try to overcome some of the uncertainty in web design that allows some agencies to under deliver and over price.

Web standards were initially created by the W3C, World Wide Web Consortium, to try and regulate the industry and maintain a minimum standard of work for all. A relatively new phenomenon, the World Wide Web was only established in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau. Since then, Berners-Lee has played an active role in guiding the development of web standards through the W3C where he is a Director.

At Web Advice, we are happy to talk to anyone regarding websites, and more importantly, what you should expect from your own. From the importance of standards based websites, through to how much you should expect to pay for yours, we are at the end of a phone. Web Advice have Skype available, so you can contact us free of charge. Please feel free to add us as a contact, our Skype name is 'WebAdvice'.

Although some web developers will argue web standards are unnecessary, in our experience, those that do not spend the additional time required to meet these often quite basic requirements have problems with natural search engine optimization, cross browser compatibility and accessibility. This means that not only are websites harder to find in search engines such as Google and Yahoo, but they also often appear different depending on the browser used to view them.

It is also apparent that many of these websites still do not appear to comply with accessibility issues stated in the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). The DDA is a UK parliamentary act, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport. It is a civil rights law and implies within its numerous and lengthy clauses that services and information on the web must be accessible to all. Web standards go a long way to guaranteeing programs that help those with disabilities such as the blind work effectively, and this issue is particularly focused in the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).