Thanks so much for the response! And let me just say thanks for Readability, too.

I didn’t look at the code but it doesn’t surprise me that it has to use a lot of clever logic. Still, imagine how much more difficult your job would have been if content had been distributed not just in HTML, but also in Flash, Silverlight, iPhone apps, BlackBerry apps, WAP sites, etc.

I mean, content *is* distributed this way, but Readability only works with HTML data. So to that extent, the standards are working, and the content that adheres to the standards is more accessible.

HTML5 will make *everything* better, I’m told!

Good post, and I agree with both statements! I do have to make one tweak though – as one of the primary authors of readability:

Web standards work, but that’s not really how Readability works, because not enough people use them! If you look at the readability source (http://code.google.com/p/arc90labs-readability/source/browse/trunk/js/readability.js), it’s a lot of logic to deal with the messes people spew all over the internet. I wish more people did use web standards; it’d make my job a lot easier!

I think HTML5 is going to make Readability work even better (the tag especially), but until everyone is using semantic html (read: never probably) we’re going to have to use tricks to get a decent percentage of sites working properly.

Good thoughts though, and I love the clean aesthetic.

(just got a Kindle for Christmas and I love it so much. But …)