Migrating to XHTML
Many of the HTML books out there are outdated 1990s relics that teach the "old ways" of HTML. That was back in the day when Netscape was the go-to browser, and some people were just realizing that they might want to think of "Internet Explorer" when they're coding pages (on Windows, no doubt).
Things have changed, and there's no reason to code nineties-style. For those of you still in the dark about today's web-standards, there's a new thingy called XHTML. It's based on HTML, but follows the rules of XML.
So why should you follow the new rules? I mean, your old pages work just fine, don't they? 3 things: accessibility, compatibility, and conveniencebility.
- Accessibility: People with disabilities should be able to access your pages. That means you should code things properly so screen-readers and other devices can properly present it. It's like putting wheelchair ramps on your site.
- Compatibility: Coding proper, standards-compliant XHTML means that web browsers will work with them the way you want. Sure, Americans use inches, feet, and funny measurements while metrics are standard, but look what happened to that Mars spacecraft.
- Convenience: Proper code means less maintenance time. CSS replaces multitudes of <font>
Now, you should unlearn what you know about 90s HTML and learn what XHTML is like.