HTML Basics

Of course, there are quite a lot of posts concerning HTML, but still it is necessary to start with the very basics to refresh your memory about some simple things to consider.

HTML is all about structure and meaning. It allows you to publish content on the web, describe and structure that content. While CSS and Javascript are additions for certain clients, HTML adds meaning and context to the elements of a web document.

We try to define the content with html tags so that it will be readable for machines as well as for humans. It is not so easy for people with good vision, because our vision creates a context for content while machines and visually impaired users need a certain semantic value given to elements within a document. In other words, it is necessary to indicate what a certain element represents.

Today there are more semantic elements added to specification that allows machines as well as visually impaired users to understand published content better. The other good thing is that there are new elements defining its relationship to other elements.

A <header> tag is an element that represents a certain relation to the primary content. It precedes this content, giving us important information and context to better interpret the given content. The same can be said about <aside> tag. It tells that the contained content is related to the primary content, but not part of it. Thus, we can define which part of an element is the main content, what content is related to it and how it is related to it.

So, all you need is to think about the way you can better structure a document to make its content the best if talk about readability for humans as well as for machines. Always think about improvements and try to use new additions as well.

Reference: www.onderhond.com/blog/work/hardcore-html