Checking grammar in HTML files?

March 8, 2006 5:23 PM

Are there any web authoring applications that have a robust grammar (not just spelling) checker?

I copyedit training content in HTML files for a living. Are there any WYSIWYG HTML editors out there that have grammar checking? Currently I'm using GoLive CS for Mac (v7.0.2), whose spelling checker is weak and grammar checker nonexistent. I'm having to paste content into Word, run the Word spelling/grammar checker, then paste content back into GoLive pages. Is there a better way?

posted by markmillard to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

There's no good way to perform effective grammar checks, so most software doesn't even try, and even the best software will have moderate-to-severe shortcomings. Word is the most common, obviously, and look how many issues it has -- false positives for sentence fragments, inability to gracefully handle complex clauses, etc.
posted by frogan at 6:15 PM on March 8, 2006

Yeah, true grammar checkers are nonexistent now and probably impossible in the foreseeable future (until computers can pass Turing tests). Besides, if you're a copy editor, why are you trying to find a robot replacement for yourself?
posted by languagehat at 6:19 PM on March 8, 2006

I'm having to paste content into Word, run the Word spelling/grammar checker, then paste content back into GoLive pages. Is there a better way?

Open the HTML files directly with Word?

But, what everyone else said. No application has a truly robust grammar checker.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 8:24 PM on March 8, 2006

But, what everyone else said. No application has a truly robust grammar checker.

Agreed. Instead, copy Joseph Williams Toward Clarity and Grace into your brain's language processor.
posted by beelzbubba at 7:52 AM on March 9, 2006

I'm having to paste content into Word, run the Word spelling/grammar checker, then paste content back into GoLive pages. Is there a better way?

Open the HTML files directly with Word?

But don't save that edited HTML file! Microsoft has a track record of crufting up nice, clean HTML. Maybe open a copy of the original?

I actually like your original idea of pasting the content into Word, and grammar-checking it. I would go further and just put Word and GoLive side-by-side, and make the corrections in GoLive directly. It eliminates any weirdness from Word -- inline styles, extra HTML tags, formatting, smart-quotes, non-standard entities, etc.

Give Word your content to grammar-check, but not your well-structured HTML.
posted by misterbrandt at 1:06 PM on March 9, 2006