Head First HTML with CSS

there are no
Dumb Questions
Q: That wasn’t too bad; I was expecting pages
of rules I had to remember. Can I really write strict
HTML 4.01 just following these rules?
A: These rules will get you a long way, but
remember, you haven’t learned everything about HTML
yet, so there are going to be a few new things that
you’ll need to keep in mind too. That said, there is no
reason to memorize all these rules. Your common
sense and this guide is a good start, and from there
you can also consult an HTML reference or just ask the
validator if your HTML is valid (you should anyway!)
when you get into some tricky areas.
Q: So whenever possible, always go with
strict?
A: It depends. Just throwing up a page that three
people in the world will see? Hey, as long as it looks
good in all your browsers, who cares. But if you’re
doing something a fair number of people will visit,
you’ll be better off keeping your HTML up to standards
and validating it. Should that be the transitional or
strict standard? Well, the world is moving in the
strict direction, so you can pay now or pay later, but
eventually, it will be in your best interest to go strict.
When you’re starting fresh, strict is just as easy. And
if you use strict, moving to XHTML will be a lot easier,
and we’re going to do that in the very next chapter and
use XHTML in the rest of the book.
Q: So I get that putting an inside an
is confusing and wouldn’t work anyway. But I can
really put an inside an ? What’s the
point of that?
A: In principle, someone might want to put
emphasis on emphasis. That seems silly, but since it
doesn’t cause problems, like nested elements
do, the standard just says, if you want to do it, you
can. What about a within a , would that ever
make sense? Sure, you might quote someone who
standards, compliance, and all that jazz
quotes someone else. So, in general you can nest
any of the inline elements inside other inline elements.
Some of these make more sense than others, but the
element is the only one that you can’t nest inside
itself. Remember too, that the element is
empty, so you can’t nest anything inside it.
Q: So why can’t I put text directly in a
? A list item can have text or a block
element. That seems inconsistent.
A: ’Cause the standard says so. Just kidding.
You’re right, it does seem inconsistent, but it’s all
based on the intent of the element. Take the
element, for instance. It’s for one text paragraph, so
of course no other block elements are allowed in it.
? It’s for quoting large portions of text
from another source, which might include headings,
paragraphs, whatever. So the point is to “quote
blocks.” List items? They’re like the contortionists of
the element world – they have to be able to hold simple
text, large bits of text like paragraphs or even other
lists, so they can handle everything.
Q: I noticed the validator said
the standard requires the “alt”
attribute on elements. Are
there any other attributes that are
required?
A: Wow, good catch. Yes, the alt attribute
is required on images for accessibility, so that, for
instance, the visually impaired can know what the
image is, even if they can’t see it. The other required
attribute is the src attribute on an image – what good
is an element if it doesn’t point to an image?
There are also some attributes that were okay with
HTML 3.2 that you can’t use anymore with strict HTML
4.01. Why? Because most of them affected the way
Web pages looked, and you’re supposed to be using
CSS for that kind of styling (more on this topic in just a
couple of chapters).
Webville’s a friendly
place. Forget a rule? Just
run it by me, the Validator.
I’ll get you pointed in the
right direction.
Validator
you are here 255