Google AdSense and Paypal – HTML Validation Pet Peeve

I have a policy of trying to have the pages in my Web site validated to the highest possible standards – XHTML, or at least HTML 4.01 Transitional.

(The standard tool, which I use for this purpose is the W3C Markup Validation Service at http://validator.w3.org/.)

However, my efforts are hampered by the Google AdSense markup, which I use to display Google AdSense advertisements. Their customer service was, OF COURSE, unhelpful in providing me an XHTML-compliant version of the Google AdSense markup code, although they did provide me with instructions how to make it HTML 4.01 Transitional compliant.

Today I found that also the Paypal markup code, which implements the button for donations, is far from being XHTML-compliant.

I realize that there are incompatibilities between the various HTML standards, which prevent the same version of generated markup from complying with all of them. However, it’s high time that all those services provide us with an option to choose the desired compliance level for the markup, which they generate for us to insert into our Web pages.

Author: Omer Zak

I am deaf since birth. I played with big computers which eat punched cards and spew out printouts since age 12. Ever since they became available, I work and play with desktop size computers which eat keyboard keypresses and spew out display pixels. Among other things, I developed software which helped the deaf in Israel use the telephone network, by means of home computers equipped with modems. Several years later, I developed Hebrew localizations for some cellular phones, which helped the deaf in Israel utilize the cellular phone networks. I am interested in entrepreneurship, Science Fiction and making the world more accessible to people with disabilities. View all posts by Omer Zak