We have been involved with CSS Reboot since the Fall of 2005, rebooting a total of 3 times including our most recent this November. When we first heard of the event back in the summer of ‘05, we were really excited and couldn’t wait to participate. We thought to ourselves, “Wow, this is a fantastic event that we can’t wait to support!”. Since that time, things have gradually changed and not necessarily for the better. In fact, since the site switched ownership in July, things haven’t been the same. We were looking forward to this year’s reboot but after seeing how the event played out, we would have much rather fully supported this year’s newest entry into the standards community – Standards Reboot.

Disappointing to say the least

This year’s CSS Reboot lacked in many areas, but the two areas that we have the most trouble with are the site design and presentation of rebooted sites. Last year’s model of sponsored reboots didn’t work (although admittedly we were one of them) and wasn’t received very well by quite a few folks. The sponsorships didn’t last long and it was decided that the next reboot would not contain paid spots. However, the idea of tagging the reboots and displaying only a limited amount of random sites on the home page doesn’t seem to cut it either. With the tagging system, you have to dig down too far to find what you’re looking for instead of giving people a clear and wide-open sense of discovery. In our opinion, the layout, presentation and information architecture was/is lacking. In fact, most of the site seemed rushed and last-minute leaving people wondering if the site would actually launch in time for the November 1st deadline.

Cue Standards Reboot

So is all lost? No, hardly the case at all. A new site has come to the forefront and gives hope to the standards revolution still. The brainchild of the same folks that brought you Logo Pond, Standards Reboot not only delivers, but far exceeded my expectations. The design was well imagined and executed, the sign up process was easy to use and manage, and the presentation of the sites was fantastic. Oh, and did we mention that all of the sites submitted are run through the W3C’s validator to make sure they are in fact well formed and validated? That’s what web standards are all about people! They put it out there for all to see; either you get a green check if you validate or a red “X” if you don’t. It couldn’t be simpler but it really encourages people to take the extra steps to ensure that their documents are well-formed and content is separate from style.

Some perspective and final thoughts

We don’t mean to throw CSS Reboot under the bus. They are doing something good for the community by encouraging web standards, but are they doing enough? Usability is key and if people aren’t able to navigate the site to see all of the wonderful designs built with XHTML and CSS then really, what’s the point? And if there is no “standard” (pardon the pun) that people are being held to when they submit a site, then are they really building their sites as well as they could be? Hopefully CSS Reboot can get back on track once the new ownership has had time to adjust to their new surroundings. However, if the above questions are not addressed and unless they make fundamental changes to the site, we will continue to support the work being done by David Blanchet and the folks over at Standards Reboot.

We have been involved with CSS Reboot since the Fall of 2005, rebooting a total of 3 times including our most recent this November. When we first heard of the event back in the summer of ‘05, we were really excited and couldn’t wait to participate. We thought to ourselves, “Wow, this is a fantastic event that we can’t wait to support!”. Since that time, things have gradually changed and not necessarily for the better. In fact, since the site switched ownership in July, things haven’t been the same.