Andy Clarke has come out and said what many of us wish we could, but don’t.

Via Molly’s Web Standards and The New Professionalism

Those people still delivering nested table layout, spacer gifs or ignoring accessibility can no longer call themselves web professionals.

Interview with Andy Clarke (AKA Accessibility, the gloves come off)

It’s so true. In fact, I think that it’s been true for a long time. Other professions – my mum is a hairdresser, for example – consider ongoing professional development a necessary and vital part of what they do. Doctors and pharmacists need to be up to date with the latest drugs and treatments. Builders need to know about the latest materials – not doing so could cost them money. Mechanics know how to service the latest cars, or they would be left behind very rapidly. Web development should be no different. You would actually think that web development, an industry that changes so rapidly and which has so much information so readily available for next to no cost, would consider continual updating of skills and knowledge essential.

So, the question is, why isn’t ongoing education part of web development culture?