Unfortunately he thinks that he can't switch to HTML5 today and get all the benefits he requires. Do it, there's no reason not to.<p><a href="http://html5doctor.com/absent-elements-and-validation/" rel="nofollow">http://html5doctor.com/absent-elements-and-validation/</a><p><a href="http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#Should_I_close_empty_elements_with_.2F.3E_or_.3E.3F" rel="nofollow">http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#Should_I_close_empty_element...</a>