Apparently I've been busy lately, because I completely missed this one.

To summarize, the above link was an open letter to Disney's new UK store, which was recently redesigned. To accompany this new design, Disney's developers coded the site with all sorts of ugly, outdated tactics that were the norm 5 or 6 years ago, but are completely unneccesary for today's Web. For the non-developer, these tactics included clunky, old methods for laying out content and graphics (inlcuding abusing elements designed for other purposes), mixing how a page looks with what it's content (as opposed to separating the two and centralizing the code for the appearance of the page for easy maintenance), and ignoring the principles of accesibility for those with special needs, or those that lack the latest browsers and plugins.

If your business is pondering a redesign of your site (whether it be in-house or with a Web company), don't overlook the importance of what goes on under the hood -- the code and markup that makes your site function. Sometimes, companies spend so much time on the front side -- how a page appears and navigates to the ideal user with the latest browser -- that they igonre this other aspect, and underestimate how much it can affect the success and effectiveness of their sites.

Although written specifically to Disney, Molly's open letter, and it's main key points (quoting directly):

Performance will become slower.

Your site will become significantly more difficult to manage.

Your site will become more expensive to maintain.

The site may experience a drop in search rankings across all engines.

The site is unusable for any blind person who might like to visit.

should resonate with any company truly committed to creating and maintaining an effective Web presence. When working with those creating your new site, ask them about their adherence to standards, usability and accessibility, and make sure your site doesn't follow the same ill-fated path that others are destined to tread. If you are unsure of their response, seek the guidance of a third party consultant. A few hours spent here could save your business thousands down the road.