<b> or <strong> ?

As I was browsing one of the websites showcased in this forum, someone said to avoid [b] and [i] and use [strong] and [em]. I read the following article and it says nothing about the [b] being extinct soon. What do you guys think? Any more news about when the [b] and [i] will be no longer recognized by browsers?

http://www.think-ink.net/html/bold.htm

Conclusion:

Use the [strong] and [em] tags when the content of your page requires that certain words or phrases be stressed. Use them sparingly or your page, much as you would use exclamation points ( ! ! ! ). If you are only highlighting words for a visual effect to assist in navigation use the [b] and [i] tags.

Thanks.

I've started to use the <strong> and the <em> tags ever since I've heard of them, you know, so I can adjust my habits so I won't be typing <b> all the time. Once you get it hardwired into your brain I guess it wouldn't make a difference until those tags are completely rendered incompatible. And the rules about bold and italics should follow standard writing guidelines (get a writer's handbook, I usually tend to go by the MLA standard format when I write papers), or when using bold or italics is more of an artistic approach. . . just my two cents which I don't possess.

:rolleyes:

Well actually that is what I started to do as soon as I read the comment in this forum. It's [strong] and not [b], no big deal. I'm just curious about the issue

Btw, where do you guys get such info? w3.org or ... ?

I get it from reading people's posts on TPS. :P

The difference has to do with XHTML and XML and all that stuff. And separating style from content, etc. Say if you are looking at a site with a screen reader, using < strong> is supposed to make the voice actually change pitch to emphasize the word. I think. I'm sure there is some crazy explanation of it. I've just started using < strong> and < em> though. I really can't give you a very good reason why without researching it though. I probably read about it on www.zeldman.com or something and have done it since then.