Semantic HTML » Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML | What Not To Use

Martin — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:47:18 +0000

I’m quoting from a presentation page on Semantic HTML that an author has on his site:

Removed or deprecated some elements

ISINDEX

APPLET

CENTER

FONT

BASEFONT

STRIKE

S

U

DIR

MENU

You see, semantically correct html is more than just mere correct structure, but what you use is also just as important. Old school, depreciated HTML tags are not semantical. For example, the CENTER tag. That stands for “CENTER the object”, right? Well, that in itself is presentational in nature – and therefore should be left to CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to do.

That’s where semantics take place…

Template Driven Semantics

Martin — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:10:15 +0000

What are Template Driven Semantics? A new catch phrase? No, we have too many catchy phrases already. What I mean by Template Driven Semantics is the art of creating website templates, whether they be for WordPress themes, or for a stand alone website, that are fully Plain Old Semantic HTML driven and based. The perfect example for what I’m talking about is what’s happening with WordPress themes.

You see, there’s such a need today for POSH templates in today’s market, as otherwise, web site design will maintain it’s spaghetti code, invalid, table based markup. But – and here’s my point – if we web standard designers will flood the industry with our semantically correct, W3C valid and accessible template designs, we could in reality change the landscape of our industry for the good.

There is discussion right now in an email list I belong to, the WP-Hackers newsgroup, about closing the security gap in the (mostly semantic) WordPress theme downloads. So, not only is WordPress a platform you can count on for minimizing your administration of a website/blog – but you can also trust them too.

Semantic HTML in Today’s Design World

Martin — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:29:03 +0000

Semantic HTML is a term used by web professionals to describe the use of correctly laid out (X)HTML markup. Using that markup in it’s proper way, as dictated by the W3C. This semantically correct usage of web markup does not only benefit the web design community, but also the SEM (Search Engine Marketing) field as well. And that’s what this site is all about – marketable semantics.

You see, there are killer looking sites out there that couldn’t validate even if you put it through a blender! And then there are those standard compliant websites that are so boring that they give Web Standards a really bad name. So what’s that have to do with marketable semantics, and what exactly are marketable semantics? Basically, they are the SEM advantage of semantically correct markup.

See, this site you’re at now is semantically made, but if you check hard enough, you just may find a miscellaneous error or two. See, the difference in hardcore Web Standards vs what I like to call “Real World Web Standards” is simple. If your markup fails at some checkpoint within the W3C’s standards due to a “plugin” if you’re using WordPress, or if you’d like to monetize your website which requires the use of a bit of accessible JavaScript – and it does not hinder the accessibility and usability of the page, your best attempts of W3C validation should go applauded, but excusable.