<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/unearthed/design/google/"><img src="/updateGoogle.png" alt="update Google to standards" width="143" height="55" /></a>Last updated: 4 October 2005
The above is my latest attempt at creating a look and feel for the Google front page that is standards based. I did this as an exercise in css based layout using valid markup. I fully believe that using the W3C based standards is the smartest way to develop a site that is accessible to the widest variety of people.
This version is a throwback...since Google doesn't seem to want to change the appearance of their home page, this version keeps their current look and feel. The prior versions were fancier, though.
Why pick on Google? There are a lot of sites that aren't following standards, but Google is probably one of the most visited websites in the world. If Google were to start using standards, it might influence others to do so as well.
It has been over a year since I published my original ideas for updating Google, yet Google still chooses to not follow standards. I plan to periodically provide alternate, standards based, implementations of the Google main web page, and if Google wishes, I can help with their results pages as well.
Of course, there are other ways that Google could implement standards, and I'm sure that some developers out there can find more efficient ways to code these updates that I have done. However, I see this as a challenge to get people to pressure Google to implement standards. If you thing that Google should update to standards, please post a link to this page from your site. Together, we can encourage Google do what is right and implement standards, and hopefully by extension the rest of the web.
Please link to this page if you feel that Google should update their site to use current standards.
If you would like to contribute a version of the Google front page for the cause (or you are graphically inclined and want to create nifty images to use), just and include your image or version of the Google front page. Credit for your contribution will be provided (in the form of a link if one is provided).
Feel free to use the following graphics on your site to link to this page. Please do us a favor and copy the image to your own server, though.
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/unearthed/design/google/"><img src="/updateGoogle.png" alt="update Google to standards" width="143" height="55" /></a>This site is hosted by Unearthed DS.