Why web standards matter
Web type has a quality no other type in history has ever had: it is fundamentally optional.
On the web, typography yields to HTML markup. The relationship of these two concepts can be debated, as can their simultaneous effect on authorship and meaning; but argument aside, qualities like size, spacing, and typeface choice – things that have traditionally defined typography – are, on the web, part of a presentational layer that can be switched on or off.
This separation has changed our art and forever affected written communication for the better, and it can be attributed to the cause for which we don blue beanies today.
Web typography depends entirely on web standards.