Problems with page validation

[Robert Sullivan]

The recent discussion of document declarations and page validation reminded me
of a question I've been meaning to ask.

I've been including declarations for a couple of years after the validators
suggested it.  I was using HTML 2, since I was writing for Lynx and VT 200
terminals.  Now I'm converting to 4.01 (still making them Lynx-accessible,
though).

My problem has come in two areas.  First, I use thecounter.com's Javascript
counter.  I like it a lot, but validator.w3.org complains about some errors and
won't validate my home page <http://www.scpl.org>.  Since I want to put the
HTML 4.01 logo on my pages, should I ignore this?  I'm not a Javascript
programmer, so I can't tell what should be changed, or if adding an alt tag for
the invisible counter would cause any problems in its operation.

Secondly, the validators don't like the structure of some of the URLs I link
to.  My local information pages at <http://www.scpl.org/local> link to assorted
census statistics, maps, campaign contributions etc., and the &s in the URLs
give the validator fits.  I can't change any of those, so should I just put the
logo on and ignore those errors?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Bob Sullivan                               scp_sulli at sals.edu
Schenectady County Public Library (NY)     http://www.scpl.org