<link rel .> NOT closed?!

[Makaveli2007]

If I want to reference a stylesheet I use the <link rel...>-element.

Wouldn't the tag surrounding it not have to be closed (<link rel.../ >) to be HTML 4.01 strict?

Or is this one element/tag an exception to this rule?

[encyclo]

Trailing slashes are for XHTML only. The

link

element does not take a closing tag in HTML:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/path/to/stylesheet.css">

[Dabrowski]

Also, don't use XHTML as whie HTML4.01/STRICT is still recognised as standard, HTML5 is set to replace it. There are issues with server mime types and browser interpretation for XHTML.