HTML5: Using sectional elements
Included within the new HTML5 specifications are a new base template, several revised elements, and in addition, the HTML5 specification provides new section and structural elements that you can start using today to streamline your markup coding practices.
Several elements overlap into both sectional and structural descriptions, including the article <article>, aside <aside>, and section <section> tags, and descriptions for proper usage of the headings group <hgroup> and <h1 – h6> headings.
Section elements have been added to the specification as a way of semantically representing content on the web. This is the specification’s cure for the rampant div-itis and class-itis that has plagued markup coding practices in recent years. Web authors are strongly encouraged to view the <div> element as an element of last resort. When no other element is suitable and all section element options have been exhausted then the <div> can be utilized. Use of the <div> element instead of more appropriate sectional elements leads to accessibility issues for readers and becomes a maintenance headache for authors. Semantic meaning may require adding an ID and this is recommended: i.e., <article id=”blog”>. (Read more…)