HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
many potential customers if your tool does not generate excruciatingly
correct XHTML-compliant output. There is no technical excuse for any
tool not to generate XHTML-compliant output. If there are compatibil-
ity issues surrounding how the output might be used (with a nonXHTML
browser, perhaps), the tool should provide a switch that lets the author
select XHTML-compliant output as an option.
16.5.6. What to Do?
We recommend that all HTML authors take the time to absorb the dif-
ferences between HTML and XHTML outlined in this chapter. Given the
resources and opportunity, you should try to create XHTML-compliant
pages wherever possible for the sites you are creating. Certainly you
should choose authoring tools that support XHTML and give you the op-
tion of generating XHTML-compliant pages.
One day, XHTML may replace HTML as the official standard language
of the Web. Even so, the number of noncompliant pages on the Web is
overwhelming, forcing browsers to honor old HTML constructs and fea-
tures for at least the next five years. For better or worse, HTML is here
to stay as the de facto standard for web authors for years to come.
