It's a hard concept to explain to a client who just wants a site that loads on FrontPage or a pilfered copy of DreamWeaver so they can make their own changes. You don't need to specify this color and text size on that heading tag, I'll say...just tag it, and the stylesheet will take care of it for you. It's like herding cats.

I find myself adding old-school touches (read: tables) into sites more often than I care to, to make the client happy, to give them that sense of "control." Of course, I know (as does anyone who does this for a living) that there is far more control and flexibility when you separate content from presentation. But I have yet to find a way to really drive that home. And my interpretive dance on the topic was not well-received.

Imagine my delight when I found a lovely graphical representation (look client, pretty pictures!) of just how standards-based design works, here at Web Standards in a Nutshell. And the article that it accompanies is pretty darn cool as well. Suddenly my head hurts a little less, and now I can turn my focus to choreographing my next piece, "Avoid Constant Contact at All Costs."

Thanks to CSS Beauty for the link.