Thierry Koblentz wrote: >>> It is about semantic markup, we should use HTML elements for the >>> information they convey, not for how they display. >>> >> Yes, it's all about semantic markup - the very base for conscious web >> development. >> >> However, a general problem here on css-d is that "semantics" is pretty >> much "off-topic" - unless (maybe if) the OP supply something that is so >> weak on markup level that it simply can't be (visually) solved with CSS. >> > > I see your point Georg, but imho "semantics" is "on-topic" when choices > involve different type of hooks. > For example nested elements (spans within list items) vs. siblings (dt/dd > pairs) > > I'm inclined to agree that the subject of semantic HTML is on point in this forum. Semantic HTML is absolutely essential to taking full advantage of what CSS offers us as web developers. CSS by itself can do nothing, and the power of what it CAN do is directly proportional to the quality of the HTML code to which it is applied. Semantic use of HTML elements gives us the best method to build pages, indeed whole sites, that are flexible, accessible, easier to maintain, portable, modular, and lean, delivering pages that load fast, minimize server overhead, and are easier for search engines to index and classify properly.
I'll grant that web standards are not a law, and designers are still free to base their layouts in tables if they so choose. Even in 2008, the arguments are still made in support of non-semantic table-based layout techniques (among other less-than-optimal coding practices), usually based on "expediency" in building pages or because CSS implementation proved "difficult". It may surprise some newbies to know that most, if not all, advanced CSS practicioners have had occassion during their careers to use the same suboptimal techniques that we try to dissuade anyone from using today. We have also found CSS to be rather difficult at times. This forum, more than any place on the face of the Earth, is a testament to that fact. Yet, those who have kept the faith and worked to internalize and solidify their understanding of the Semantic HTML/CSS/DOM triumvirate have been able to forge great advances if not create a completely new model of web development - one that recognizes the critical value of the unseen structure of the front end, or as Theodore Roethke wrote: "What shakes the eye but the invisible?" Troubles in CSS can frequently be traced to suboptimal HTML structure. Semantics are a principle of creating optimal HTML structure. Thus, as its catalyst, semantic HTML goes hand-in-hand with CSS in any discussion thereof. ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
