When it comes to building Web sites to standards, there are two things to consider. First, can you say goodbye to HTML 4.01 and hello to XHTML?
For your answer, take a peek at your access logs. Your logs will tell you which browsers your visitors are using. If Netscape 4.7 and IE 4 usage is nonexistent, the answer is yes. If they still represent a small amount of your visitor traffic, then it’s a business call. Ask yourself:
- Do outdated-browser users represent a significant portion of my traffic?
And more importantly:
- Do they represent my target customer?
Or better yet (in case of commerce sites):
- Do they represent the people who are buying my product?
If your answers are generally no, you’re ready to move on. If you’re saying “yes,” you need to decide if it is sufficient that users of older browsers see something that looks different, then develop a migration strategy. If you’re still stuck writing HTML 4.01, then at least start writing valid HTML 4.01.