Learning any programming language means learning how to debug it. But a malformed command in Python usually returns an error message that prevents the code from running, not something that fails spectacularly, but goes beyond the intentions of its creators. With HTML, we're all Doctor Frankenstein.
One of my all-time favorite websites is the Embroidery Troubleshooting Guide. This is what is available these days Via Internet ArchiveUnless (like me) you have a local copy. On the surface, it looks like a normal, somewhat old-fashioned, small-business website. But when you look down, you immediately notice something strange about it. Center-aligned text in alternating red and blue Arial, gradually becoming larger and larger, forcing phrases to wrap lines or reach the edge in the middle of the word, making Alice in Wonderland smaller and The screen fills like Alice trying to squeeze through small doors. ,
When you look at the source code (does any other program make it so easy to view the source like a website?), you'll immediately know what went wrong. Each line of centered text begins
Or
Header tags that never close. Each header tag – which establishes only a relative size, not an absolute, part of the semantic richness of the Web's flexible grammar – builds on the last, creating progressively larger nesting dolls. Tags designed to define textual hierarchy go unchecked and create chaos. The fact that the words themselves are about how and why the threads can break makes it a poem.
In itself, the embroidery troubleshooting guide would be a clever piece of conceptual art. But by viewing the source, downloading the file, and replacing the instructions for troubleshooting common sewing problems with any text you like, you can make that artwork your own. I love writing down my favorite poem, taking it out of context, and forcing myself to read it with fresh eyes.
Such “broken” sites exaggerate the great achievement of semantic HTML. As it evolved, semantic HTML increasingly separated structure from presentation: instead Tags, which strictly specify that a text should be presented in italics, we use Tags to identify emphasis (or Tags for titles of books or movies, etc.). These elements may then be presented as italics on a computer screen but read in a different tone by a screen reader. Embroidery Troubleshooting Guide hijacks a semantic tag and renders it something unexpected. The same building blocks that allow a website to display responsively on small phones or huge television screens can render a website fundamentally undisplayable. It is enjoyable.
I appreciate the usefulness of content management systems and complex sites that generate HTML dynamically, but there's a joy in building sites from simple HTML files that you can edit by hand. I still edit my website this way, organizing it so I can see every tag, section, and paragraph. I also love editing my own e-books, converting PDFs into well-formatted HTML-based ePUB files that are never published to anyone: my own personal library of self-contained websites. During the height of the pandemic, editing these files and their style sheets by hand was a balm.
Ultimately, even though HTML has become the province of professionals, it cannot be gatekeepers. This is what makes so many programmers so concerned about the Web, and sometimes pathetically desperate to maintain the completely literal walls erected between software engineers and Web developers. . But those who write HTML know that hierarchies are built to be blown up. It just requires a tag that doesn't close where you expect it to.
HTML lovers accept what other programmers may say dismissively: Everyone can do it. Whether we're using complex frameworks or very simple tools, the promise of HTML is that we can build, create, code and to do Whatever we want.