Well by no stretch of the imagination can you call them vague. Generally I would say that you should folow the guidelines, because they are what the browser authors will be reading, so having a common basis for design is a good thing. If your page validates well then chances are it will display in most browsers.
Generally speaking too, the guidelines are there for your own good. e.g. they say to use css for presentation. that actually makes your job easier, so IMO the guidelines are a good thing to follow. If you choose not to then that's your affair.

Hi, thanks

The W3C insists not to use images for headlines. But if i do so, i will loose my valuable customers.......


:lol:

Try this way:
<h1><img src="title.jpg" width="200" height="200" border="0" alt="Your title in here" /></h1>

I use W3C for making sure I did not leave out a any little thing like </a> or </img>

Good Web Developer should follow guidelines. I used to be a cowboy coder making my own guidelines and designing website for Explorer only. Things have changed. I now code for web standards.