1D0-510 · Question #66
The XHTML 1.0 Recommendation describes three variations or "flavors." Which of the following best describes the XHTML 1.0 Transitional flavor and its requirements?
The correct answer is C. Developers can use either Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or HTML 4.0-compliant markup tags for all formatting. See the full explanation below for the reasoning.
Question
Options
- ADevelopers must use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for all formatting.
- BDevelopers can use any markup tags that were supported in HTML Recommendations 1.0 or later.
- CDevelopers can use either Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or HTML 4.0-compliant markup tags for all formatting.
- DDevelopers must use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for all formatting and use frames with XHTML 1.0-compliant markup tags.
How the community answered
(40 responses)- A3% (1)
- B13% (5)
- C80% (32)
- D5% (2)
Community Discussion
7
Carlos M.Jun 27, 2026Answer is C. XHTML 1.0 Transitional is the middle-ground flavor, it lets you use either CSS or the older HTML 4.0 presentational markup tags like font and center for formatting. That is what separates it from Strict, which forces you to drop all those deprecated tags and go CSS-only, and from Frameset, which is specifically for pages using frames. Transitional exists precisely so developers could migrate from HTML 4.0 without having to rip out all their existing formatting tags at once. If the question is about which flavor gives you that flexibility to mix old-school HTML presentation attributes with CSS, C is the only one that fits.
Imani T.Jun 26, 2026C is the right call here, though the way it is phrased makes it sound like you get to pick one or the other on a whim, when really Transitional exists to give legacy sites a migration path where deprecated presentational HTML 4.0 attributes are still allowed alongside CSS. D trips people up because frames belong to XHTML Frameset, not Transitional, so if you know your three flavors cold you can eliminate that one fast.
Nina C.Jun 28, 2026The frameset thing is what finally made it click for me too, because once you know Frameset is its own separate DTD it basically knocks out D right away and the real decision is just Strict versus Transitional, which comes down to whether deprecated presentational markup is still in play.
Hiroshi T.Jun 27, 2026C is correct. XHTML 1.0 Transitional is defined in the W3C Recommendation as permitting the use of presentational and formatting attributes from HTML 4.0, giving authors the choice to rely on CSS or to continue using deprecated HTML 4.0 presentation markup during the transition period before moving to Strict.
Imani T.Jun 29, 2026Solid point, though worth adding that Transitional also requires well-formed XML syntax unlike plain HTML 4.0, so it is not a free pass to write sloppy legacy markup.
Nina C.Jun 27, 2026Okay so I kept getting tripped up between A and C on this one, and what helped me was thinking about what "Transitional" even means as a word, like it implies you are in between two things, not fully committed to one way of doing it yet. From what I read, Transitional is basically the middle-ground flavor that lets you keep using the old HTML 4.0 presentational tags (things like font or center) while also allowing CSS, so developers who were migrating from older HTML sites did not have to rewrite everything at once. That points to C, because C is the only option that says you can use either CSS or HTML 4.0-compliant markup, not that you must use CSS exclusively. The "must use CSS" language in A actually sounds more like XHTML 1.0 Strict, which is the stricter flavor that cuts out all the old presentational markup entirely. My question is, does Transitional actually require that your page validates against the XHTML 1.0 Transitional DTD, or can you mix in tags from even older HTML versions like 3.2? Because option B says "HTML Recommendations 1.0 or later" and I want to make sure I understand exactly where the line is drawn for what tags are allowed.
Carlos M.Jun 28, 2026To answer your B question, Transitional still locks you to the XHTML 1.0 Transitional DTD specifically, so random HTML 3.2 tags that did not make it into that DTD are not valid, which is exactly why B is a trap answer.