Building XHTML Web Sites

The promise of XHTML 1.0 Strict is:

  • Separation between the web page structure, content and design.
  • Reformulate HTML as XML compliant

XHTML has no purely presentational elements and attributes as does HTML, such as the HTML <font> tag. When we build your web page using XHTML, we are actually creating an XML document.

Traditional HTML pages can be sloppily written - browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Opera, and even Microsoft Internet Explorer) will make every effort to render (draw to the screen) pages correctly. Sometimes this 'looks ok in x browser', however, there could be deviations from a standard, which may render incorrectly in future browsers and operating systems and even in devices such as mobile phones and PDAs.

An example of sloppily written HTML is the overlapping tags syndrome - where a bit of code is overlapping another bit of code. HTML code can be thought of in the same way as a Tupperware container. Each container has a lid. In order to close it, you put the lid on the container. You can put one container inside another container. If you pile them up, container, then container, then lid then lid, neither container is actually closed, and the contents will leak out. Bold text can be coded in html as: <bold>bold text</bold> - italic text can be coded in html as: <i>italic text</i>, if you want bold and italic, use <i><bold>bold italic text</bold></i>, not <i><bold>bold italic text</i></bold>

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C):

W3C develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding.

You can validate your Griffin Outpost pages by using the W3C validation service. The W3C validation service enables you to validate a page by supplying a URL or by uploading the source of any Griffin Outpost XHTML page. If you like, we can even put a link on your page to have your intended audience validate your page(s) through the W3C, but of course, this is optional. The validation service is located here: W3C Markup Validation Service.

You can even click here to validate this page through the W3C Markup Validation Service.

XHTML 1.0 Strict:

Griffin Outpost can build web pages that are XHTML 1.0 Strict, if you need them.

A great benefit of XHTML 1.0 Strict is for all web pages to display the same way in any browser. For example, when built against standards, a page that was designed to display a certain way will be displayed correctly in your intended audience's browser.

The Griffin Outpost makes pages that are accessible to persons with disabilities, which can include the blind, an elderly person with glaucoma, or someone who cannot use a typical input device, such as a keyboard and mouse. Various tools and services allow the disabled to access the web, some are readers which read the page aloud, or special keyboards and monitors for people with different needs. XHTML 1.0 strict standards prevent blocking persons with temporary or permanent disabilities from your web pages.

Accessibility is not just for the disabled. Technology screams for accessible pages. Each time a new device comes to market, that device may have to interface the internet, and that may include your web page, and be able to view or change information. XHTML documents (your web pages) also conform to the XML standard. They can be readily viewed, edited, and validated with standard XML tools. Cell Phones are a good example for this. The smaller screens and lower color options of these devices limit their capacity to access your web page.

The Major Basic Rules:

XHTML pages must be well-formed and valid XML:

  1. XHTML doctype declaration: <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
  2. XHTML namespace declaration: <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
  3. XHTML attributes: Enclosed in quotation marks. href is an example of an attribute. For example: <a href="http://www.example.com">example</a>
  4. XHTML attributes: Must have a value. Form elements option in HTML has a selected attribute which didn't need a value (<option value="value" selected>option</option>, instead, we code it in XHTML 1.0 Strict as <option value="value" selected="true">option</option>).
  5. XHTML attributes: in <a>, <applet>, <form>, <frame>, <iframe>, <img>, and <map>, id is used instead of name to identify them. Use id and name together for backward compatibility.
  6. XHTML code: Opening tags has a matching closing tag. However, some tags do not have closing tags, empty element shorthand is used instead. Add a space before the closing slash, for existing browsers, as they have a hard time rendering empty element shorthand. For example: <meta /> and <br />
  7. XHTML code: Lowercase

What tables are for:

Sit with your family, have a good meal and conversation at the table. That is what tables are for.

Kidding aside, tables are still valid in XHTML 1.0 strict, but they are not to be used to do page layout. They should be used to display information in rows and columns, such as you would find in a spreadsheet.

XHTML 2.0:

W3C is working on a recommendation for XHTML 2.0. XHTML 2.0 is still in the draft stage at W3C. No web browser currently supports this standard.