Many ask what web standards are. Here’s the list that web standards prevent.

Web Standards prevent:

• lack a specified document type,
• contain invalid (X)HTML,
• use tables for layout,
• require a particular browser to work,
• require client-side scripting to work,
• require third-party products such as Flash to work,
• cannot be used by people with disabilities,
• are semantically meaningless,
• are unnecessarily heavy to download, thereby also placing unnecessary load
  on the server,
• force links to open in separate windows whether the visitor wants them to
  or not, and
• do not allow the text to be resized in the most commonly used
  browser.

Zeldman presents a very entertaining video on the history of web standards and how it is revolutionizing society. He highlights four other members of A List Apart and their main contributions to the Web Standards Project.