Web standards and the concepts they embody are a rather elusive subject for those outside of the web development world. Convincing a manager or client that spending the extra time and money on web standards is often met with blank stares and the swift closure of checkbooks.

As prudent architects of the web, it is our job as developers and designers to argue the case for web standards. It is important to translate our techno-intertube-babble into something that any client (managers being clients, too) can comprehend. Once your client understands the value that web standards provide to their site and their customers, they will be more likely to devote resources towards doing things the right way.

The Business Case for Web Standards is a wiki devoted to helping developers and designers argue the case for web standards. Christian Heilmann created this site to help the web design community band together and collectively tackle this task.

From the site:

The first problem I realized is that a lot of presentations start from the premise that the person we are trying to convince knows and is interested in web standards. This might not be the case, therefore I am thinking that we need to approach the sale with the premise that we need to solve the issues the person has and find the solutions web standards provide that relate to these.

Roger Johansson also points out a great reason to use this resource:

One thing in particular that I like about this is that there isn’t only room for the arguments for using Web standards. Common counterarguments are also listed, which is good since being aware of those arguments lets you prepare good replies to them in case they are used.

The wiki itself is broken down into some really great categories that make it very easy to find the information you need.

• Argumentation
  • Arguments
  • Counterarguments
  • Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Audience
  • Enterprise Managers
  • Small Business
  • Department Heads
  • Non Technical Managers