Code Validation

Well, there are two ways to find out. Publish then go to the HTML Authoring newsgroup and ask for a critique of your page. Or use one of the web-based page validation sites where you can go anonymously and get a machine to do the job.

The Human Touch

I would definitely recommend the latter - unless you're into a little masochism! Not that HTML authors are bad people, they just tend to be a little zealous at times! If you want a live person or two to see your site then you can try the alt.html newsgroup which seems to be geared a little more to the newbie. Or for the really adventuresome go to the comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html group. This is where most of the zealots hang out so beware!

Machine

There's not much I can tell you about the validation services. They're all different and you just have to go to the sites and follow their instructions. The output they provide is pretty self-explanatory and it's kind of fun.

The first site I'd recommend is the Weblint Gateway. The validation tools are up to date and there are additional links on the page to other resources. The "lint" part of the name comes from the programming world where there is a "lint" program that is used to check C programs. I don't know which lint they're checking for - pocket or bellybutton.

Another site that provides this service is A Kinder, Gentler HTML Validator by someone at the University of Alberta in Canada.

I had several others on my list but they hadn't been updated since 1995 and only went through HTML 2.0 for their testing. It's got to be a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the changes. These validation software has to distinguish between the different standards and the more ambitious ones cover the Netscape and Microsoft extensions as well.

The Rusk Family . . . "the Legend Continues"