Do it well, or not at all.
Hats off to Malarkey for saying what many of us have been thinking for quite some time:
People still delivering nested table layout, spacer gifs or ignoring accessibility can no longer call themselves web professionals.
The full interview is at Accessify.
If your mechanic said he had no interest in learning about fuel injection or electronic ignition, you would find another mechanic. If your local school district officials weren’t interested in 100 years of evolutionary theory, you’d question both their sanity and good sense (unless you live in Kansas).
The point is simple, and needed to be said: if you’re a professional, act like one: Learn. Grow. Teach. Lead.
Or get the hell out of the way. If you won’t keep up with your profession - if your work is nothing more than a string of muddled mediocrities, then quit. Please.
Go find that thing makes you care enough to want to do it well, and do that. Food service. Horticulture. Underwater basket weaving. Brain surgery.
It really doesn’t matter what your thing is. If it’s your passion, follow it, and start doing something worthwhile with your life, instead of creating another crappy web site someone else will have to fix someday.
Stop embarrassing yourself and your profession. You can do it now, by choice, or you can wait a very short time and be forced out of business by someone riding the cluetrain. It’s your choice.