No web usability standards makes Internet a mess

Have you browsed the Internet lately without a specific target (think Stumbleupon). Have you noticed that no site resembles other? Don’t laugh, I know that sites are made to be different, just like any person on earth has distinctive features, but unlike every website, you know a person is a person because it has two hands, two legs, a face with eyes and a mouth.

What strikes me about websites today it that usability is only done by following a few guidelines, but no real standard about how a site should look like and work like. Everybody pretty much does what he thinks is best, putting a logo somewhere in the header along with a search box, a terms and condition link in the footer and the all mighty content between them. That’s all.

Now why would it be nice to have standards for web sites concerning interfaces and user interaction? Think at this in comparison to the car industry. How would it be like to get a new car (same class as you had before, let’s say for the sake of argument an SUV) and find out that you have to get in the front seat trough the back of the car, or that the steering wheel controls the gas and the brake/accelerate pedals control steering. I’m pretty sure that you’ll end up confused,  to say the least.

Now this is what an average Internet user feels like when he jumps from website to website. Thanks to WEB 2.0 era things got a little easier thanks to blogs, but not every site is a blog as not every car is an SUV.

I think web should get a little more organized, but not too much that we won’t feel it’s the free medium of information and communication that charmed us it he first place. What do you think? Should we tighten the bolt or loosen it even more?