Semantic Markup is Key for Accessibility and Search Engine Optimization

'Semantic markup' and 'separating style from content' are key concepts for making the content at websites understandable by blind people, search engines, and everybody else. It's operationalized in HTML by limiting markup in content to headings (<h1> - <h7>), paragraphs (<p>), lists (<ul>, <ol>, <li>), and a couple levels of emphasis (<em> and <strong>). HTML5 and CSS3 add more tags for semantics including: <main>, <nav>, <aside> <header>, <footer>, <article>, and <section>.

Semantically marked-up html should not use plain <div>s with classes or ids named like nav, header, or menu!

Semantically marked up content is read in the order it appears in the document. It can be styled to be attractive to those with good vision and easy on the eyes for people with vision impaired by refractive or macular issues. CSS allows content to be placed on the page the best way for people who _can_ see, while the HTML is organized the best for 'web page readers' used by blind people. Search engines like Google or Bing can't 'see' the pages, and semantic markup helps them to index the content to lead people to the desired pages.

Semantic Markup

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque mollis velit porta pharetra viverra. Maecenas elementum tortor id felis volutpat fringilla. Phasellus a leo augue. Vestibulum mollis id lacus in dapibus. Vestibulum at nulla ut felis condimentum condimentum. Vestibulum vitae quam luctus, convallis metus gravida, auctor augue. Etiam sed nisi quis felis commodo rutrum. Nam sit amet porttitor massa, at laoreet nisi. Duis id dignissim dui. Morbi at volutpat turpis. Aenean at augue non orci auctor bibendum.

Quisque varius arcu tellus, eu tristique nisi finibus eu. Maecenas varius lectus eget risus suscipit dapibus. Fusce pulvinar sem non mauris fermentum, ac molestie massa dapibus. Aenean iaculis et nulla sed gravida. Etiam non commodo odio. Nam ut diam sed velit cursus tincidunt. Nam eget odio eget ex lacinia dictum quis non ligula. Aenean nec tristique lorem. Maecenas porttitor sodales elit, nec ultricies tellus scelerisque eget. Suspendisse nunc purus, euismod hendrerit nibh quis, pharetra fringilla lectus. Maecenas porta metus eget ipsum facilisis feugiat. Phasellus eu venenatis quam. Aenean bibendum ligula feugiat ex viverra imperdiet.

Accessibility

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act ties into semantic markup. Pellentesque venenatis, ipsum sit amet dignissim dignissim, mi nibh fringilla ex, quis consequat quam sapien in lorem. Cras pretium orci vitae sodales eleifend. Duis lobortis arcu ut pretium auctor. Pellentesque turpis magna, suscipit sit amet maximus a, euismod quis tortor. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nam molestie justo in mattis convallis. Cras et porttitor diam, eu pellentesque mi. Mauris ultrices orci nec ante lacinia ullamcorper. Integer ornare vehicula massa finibus aliquam. Proin a dolor viverra, venenatis lectus vitae, fermentum mi.

Brizzle shiz yippiyo, dang izzle, condimentizzle fo shizzle, vehicula izzle, phat. Etiam sizzle crazy a sizzle hendrerit mattis. Pellentesque shizzlin dizzle magna crazy bizzle commodo ullamcorpizzle. Etiam lobortizzle fermentizzle ligula. Morbi odio. Maecenas quizzle fo shizzle my nizzle ac dolor iaculizzle auctor. We gonna chung sagittis viverra dang. Curabitizzle stuff massa quis purus. Morbi venenatizzle dope sit hizzle tellus. Nam lobortis crazy vitae arcu. Cum sociis natoque shut the shizzle up izzle magnis shut the shizzle up parturient crunk, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Search Engine Optimization

Google's guidelines require 'honest markup' and their web crawlers now detect abuses such as hiding tags under images or text the same color as the background. The best way to get top placement is nam molestie justo in mattis convallis. Cras et porttitor diam, eu pellentesque mi. Mauris ultrices orci nec ante lacinia ullamcorper. Integer ornare vehicula massa finibus aliquam. Proin a dolor viverra, venenatis lectus vitae, fermentum mi.

Aenean iaculis et nulla sed gravida. Etiam non commodo odio. Nam ut diam sed velit cursus tincidunt. Nam eget odio eget ex lacinia dictum quis non ligula. Aenean nec tristique lorem. Maecenas porttitor sodales elit, nec ultricies tellus scelerisque eget. Suspendisse nunc purus, euismod hendrerit nibh quis, pharetra fringilla lectus. Maecenas porta metus eget ipsum facilisis feugiat. Phasellus eu venenatis quam. Aenean bibendum ligula feugiat ex viverra imperdiet.

Valid HTML & CSS

None of this works reliably unless the HTML is valid! Invalid HTML puts browsers 'quirks mode' and confuses web crawlers and visually handicapped folks nec ante lacinia ullamcorper.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum

Simple Techniques

'Separating Style from Content' is easy to do, and makes the content 'portable' so that it will fit into any page where it may be displayed. Donec interdum arcu sapien. Vestibulum auctor felis eget justo rutrum aliquam id at tortor. Nam feugiat ligula eget vehicula pretium.

Had you followed Luca down into his cabin after the squall that took place on the night succeeding that wild ratification of his purpose with his crew, you would have seen him go to a locker in the transom, and bringing out a large wrinkled roll of yellowish sea charts, spread them before him on his screwed-down table. Then seating himself before it, you would have seen him intently study the various lines and shadings which there met his eye; and with slow but steady pencil trace additional courses over spaces that before were blank. At intervals, he would refer to piles of old log-books beside him, wherein were set down the seasons and places in which, on various former voyages of various ships, sperm whales had been captured or seen.