In a Manner of Speaking: 30 Days of Accessibility Testing

The Ministry of Testing has declared that May should be "30 Days of Accessibility Testing". As in the days of yore when I used to take on these challenges and blog regularly, I'm in the mood to get back to doing that. Therefore, I am looking to write a post every day around this topic and as a way to address each line of their checklist.

The song title puns continue, but this was a stretch. I know this one from Martin Gore, but it's a cover of a Tuxedomoon song. You're welcome ;).

22. Learn why semantic HTML is important.

Put simply, Semantic HTML goes beyond the literal markup of an HTML page and uses tags that have meaning in and of themselves.

To borrow from W3Schools explanation of semantic elements:

A semantic element clearly describes its meaning to both the browser and the developer.

Examples of non-semantic elements:  "div" and "span"  - Tells nothing about its content.
Examples of semantic elements: "form", "table", and "article" - Clearly defines its content.

Examples of semantic HTML elements (W3Schools).

HTML 5 has taken this a step further by making it possible to structure documents by using more readily understandable terms. Tags such as "article", "aside", "details", "footer", "header", "nav", "progress",  "mark", and "time" all give clues as to what the element is meant to represent, much more quickly than a general "div" or "span" will tell you.

By using Semantic markup, we don't just make pages that are easier for users to understand, we make pages that are easier for developers to understand as well.