ok, my file now validates to html 4.01 (circa 1998) and to html 3.2 (circa 1996), so i'm satisfied i have enough backwards compatibility. ;+) of course, it also runs in the browser you're running today, and the one you'll run next year, and the year after that. and it's got all the e-book functionality that one can reasonably expect from a web-browser. thanks for all your help! :+) -bowerbird