Head First HTML with CSS

Q: Okay, I think I get all this, and
it was kind of fun having the validator
check my HTML, but SO WHAT? Again,
what is all this “compliance” really
getting me?
A: How does happier customers
sound? If you know your HTML is valid,
then it’s more likely that your Web pages
will work consistently in a wide variety of
browsers, which is going to give your Web
page users a better experience. There
are a few other benefits: Web pages with
compliant HTML load faster and work
better on other devices that are now
being used to surf the Web (like TVs and
phones). They’re also more accessible to
the visually impaired who are using aural
screen readers.
Q: So can you explain the error in
detail? I want to understand exactly
what it means.
A: The error was caused by the
element not being nested inside
a block element. Imagine the browser is
reading through your HTML, and sees
an element where it expected
Exercise
there are no
Dumb Questions
a block element. The first thing it does
is say, “Hey, I expected a block element
here.” It keeps reading, and then gets to
the end of the element (which,
since is an empty element,
happens as soon as it sees the “>” at the
end of the tag) and says, “Hey
you can’t be ending an element
here because there shouldn’t be an
element here to start with.”
Also, you might find that you see multiple
error messages from one mistake. Just
take it one error message at a time, fix
your mistake, and you’ll often find you
eliminate more than one error message in
the process.
Q: Are all the validator’s error
messages so difficult to understand?
A: Generally, yes, the error
messages can be a little difficult to
decipher. This is a piece of software
telling you what is wrong, not a human
or a Head First book. Remember, the
validator doesn’t know what you meant to
do and can only attempt to decipher and
indicate errors in what you actually did.
Most of the time, it will point you to the
right line in your HTML where your error
is occurring, which is half the battle. Then
standards, compliance, and all that jazz
hopefully you’ll spot your mistake.
After reading these error messages for a
while you’ll start to get the hang of them
and often know what they are referring
to, even if the validator doesn’t tell you
specifically.
Q: Why are all the element
names listed in that error message in
uppercase? I thought element names
were written in lowercase.
A: Good question. HTML actually
allows element names to be uppercase
or lowercase, or even mixed case. You
could write or even if you
wanted. However, the W3C is changing
the rules, so in the future element names
will all be lowercase. So, while technically
the validator for Strict HTML 4.01 still
allows (and displays) uppercase tags,
we’re only using lowercase so you’ll get
into the habit of using only lowercase.
This means you won’t have to update your
tag names down the road (and that means
less work for you). And when we say
“down the road,” we actually mean in the
next chapter.
Your turn. Add the strict DOCTYPE and the tag to
“directions.html” and “elixir.html”. Try validating them – do
they validate? If not, fix them so that they do.
you are here 251