Standards schmandards. What really matters when building a website in 2009?

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

How much does that leave

• for a fast broadband connection with a high data cap?
• Or a shiny new dual processor laptop with a high def screen?

Are people that earn less than $10 a day

• boring?
• stupid?
• narrowminded?
• uninterested in what is happening in the rest of the world?

What Can Computers do for the Poor?

Could the wealthy 20% of humanity, with their armies of scientists and research facilities funded by wealthy benefactors share knowledge that could lead their fellow man out of poverty?

Could this knowledge be shared via the internet, to a shared community computer in a school or internet cafe?

Are having

1. JavaScript enabled,
2. Flash 9.0.124 (or higher) installed,
3. a minimum browser spec of Internet Explorer 7+ / Firefox 1+ / Safari 2.04+,
4. a minimum screen size of 1024×768,
5. a broadband connection,
6. and at least 2GB of RAM

all requirements to enable knowledge sharing?

Or are they barriers?

Ever considered the carbon footprint of all those server farms running 24/7 to serve up your sexy graphics?

Are any of these modern web development concepts helpful here:

• progressive enhancement,
• alternate stylesheets,
• bandwidth detection

?

How are most languages spoken?

Voice.

How are most languages read?

Written word / text.

HTML is text. Screenreaders convert text to voice. Printers print text.

Less is more. Keep it simple. Do the Right Thing.