| If you are still using HTML in your web design, | | | | Instead of sloppy HTML tags, your pages will now |
| consider transferring it to XHTML as it is the wave of | | | | contain XML tags that are always properly closed and |
| the future. | | | | nested correctly. |
| As new browsers are developed they will be using | | | | 6. Increased interoperability. |
| XHTML more and more because it is compatible with | | | | Unlike old-style HTML pages, valid, well-formed |
| a wider range of devices. | | | | XHTML documents can easily be "transported" to |
| What is XHTML? | | | | wireless devices, Braille readers and other specialized |
| XHTML is a combination of HTML and XML | | | | web environments. |
| (Extensible Markup Language). XHTML consists of all | | | | 7. Greater accessibility |
| the elements in HTML 4.01 combined with the syntax | | | | Because XHTML pages follow strict rules and avoid |
| of XML. | | | | non-standard markup, they are more accessible than |
| Top 10 Benefits of Using XHTML in Web Design | | | | HTML pages. |
| 1. Clean code | | | | 8. New developments |
| All XHTML tags must have closing tags and be | | | | All new developments will be in XML (of which |
| nested correctly. This generates cleaner code. | | | | XHTML is an application). |
| 2. Search engine spiders | | | | 9. Integration |
| Because XHTML documents have cleaner code they | | | | XHTML has the ability to cleanly integrate HTML with |
| can more easily be spidered by the search engines. | | | | other XML applications. |
| 3. Faster loading | | | | 10. CSS. |
| Web pages that don't contain errors and have clean | | | | XHTML works in conjunction with CSS to create web |
| code will load faster in all browsers. | | | | pages that can easily be updated. |
| 4. Reduce bandwidth costs | | | | Conclusion: |
| Lean XHTML documents mean you will use less | | | | By making the switch to XHTML for your future web |
| bandwidth and therefore reduce costs particularly if | | | | designs, you will not only get into the habit of writing |
| your web site has 1000s of pages. | | | | cleaner code, but if combined with CSS create |
| 5. Backward compatible | | | | designs that load faster and are more search engine |
| XHTML documents are backward compatible with | | | | friendly. |
| older, non-XHTML compliant web browsers. | | | | |