The hypertext you write is stored (or, at least, sent over the Internet)
in HTML language. Currently (1991-1997) some people write the HTML
code themselves while others use tools, such as hypertext editors, to create
the HTML documents.
What sort of HTML tags should you use? You do need to be concerned
with the sort of HTML you or your software produces.
The first reason is that if you are careful to use standard HTML which is
understood in the same way by software across the world, this is part of
making your document "device independent"
as just discussed.
The second reason is you may want the data you are creating to be still
accessible in the future: you want it to be independent of future evolutions
in software. The likely life of your document is worth some thought.
Even if it will become obsolete, what would the damage be if it ceased
to be readable by typical users in 5, 10 or 20 years time? This also
applies if you are writing "virtual hypertext" -- in other words you are
writing a program which generates hypertext automatically on the fly. Such
programs can become part of the way your company lives and breaths, and if
they work, they could still be around for a long time.
It may be tempting to use particular features of some "extended" "HTML" ,
which are proprietary and effectively require that software used to browse,
generate or handle the data comes from a particular company. In some
cases this may be appropriate. However, some people may still remember
the great costs companies went through to move from proprietary networks
to the Internet, and from one proprietary operating system to another.
Company fortunes and products change dramatically over time, so think
of the possible cost you may be letting your heirs in for.
HTML standards are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium,
and copies of the documents are available from the Technical
Notes list. For a detailed look at the current state of developments
in this area, check out the W3C HTML activity.
There are a number of tools which are available for testing whether your
document in fact conforms to a given standard. It might be wise to
use them: regularly if you write your own HTML, or occasionally if you use
editing software. (See also:
testing
your document .)
Clearly, you need for the same reason to be careful which formats you use
for images, applets, animations, sounds and videos and whatever. For
images. In 1997, GIF97 and PNG are safe, and PNG (an improvement on
GIF) is becomming acceptable. But it is far beyond the scope of this guide
to make a survey of which standards are reliable. The press has an important
job in assesing these things, and endorsement by bodies such as W3C, teh
IETF and ISO is of course very significant.
Using Standard HTML
Futureproofing
Other formats
(Part of the
Style
Guide for Online Hypertext . Up to
within
each document , back to Device
Independence, on to
printable
hypertext)
Tim BL August 1997