If you want your site to work well in today’s browsers and non–traditional devices, and to continue to work well in tomorrow’s, it’s a good idea to author new sites in XHTML, and to convert old pages to XHTML as your work schedule permits.

And the W3C has made it easy to do so. You can learn the rules of XHTML faster than Domino’s delivers a medium pizza with black olives and fresh mushrooms.

These few, simple rules exemplify W3C’s practicality, for they bring consistency and XML well–formedness to the web without requiring busy designers and developers to learn entirely new markup techniques.

But as with any transition, you’ll get better and more predictable results if you prepare ahead. This article will help you do that, by examining tools that can assist you in converting to XHTML and verify that you’ve done it correctly.

The article will also discuss changes in the way some browsers display XHTML pages that might puzzle you if you’re not anticipating them, and help you prepare workarounds if needed.

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