HTML and XHTML
This failure relates to:
The objective of this technique is to describe a failure that occurs when
structural markup is used to achieve a presentational effect, but indicates
relationships that do not exist in the content. This is disorienting to
users who are depending on those relationships to navigate the content or to
understand the relationship of one piece of the content to another. Note
that the use of HTML tables for layout is not an example of this failure as
long as the layout table does not include improper structural markup such as
<th> or <caption>
elements.
In this example, a heading element is used to display an address in a large, bold font. The address does not identify a new section of the document, however, so it should not be marked as a heading.
Example Code:
<p>Interested in learning more? Write to us at</p>
<h4>3333 Third Avenue, Suite 300 · New York City</h4>
<p>And we'll send you the complete informational packet absolutely Free!</p>
In this example, heading markup is used in two different ways: to
convey document structure and to create visual effects. The
h1 and h2 elements are used appropriately
to mark the beginning of the document as a whole and the beginning
of the abstract. However, the h3 and h4
elements between the title and the abstract are used only for visual
effect — to control the fonts used to display the authors' names and
the date.
Example Code:
<h1>Study on the Use of Heading Elements in Web Pages</h1>
<h3>Joe Jones and Mary Smith<h3>
<h4>March 14, 2006</h4>
<h2>Abstract</h2>
<p>A study was conducted in early 2006 ...
</p>
The following example uses blockquote for text that is
not a quotation to give it prominence by indenting it when displayed
in graphical browsers.
Example Code:
<p>After extensive study of the company Web site, the task force
identified the following common problem.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The use of markup for presentational effects made Web
pages confusing to screen reader users.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The committee lists particular examples of the problems
introduced by this practice below.</p>
Example Code:
<fieldset>
<legend>Bargain Corner</legend>
<p>Buy today, and save 20%</p>
</fieldset>
No resources available for this technique.
Check that each element's semantic meaning is appropriate for the content of the element.
If check #1 is false, then this failure condition applies and the content fails the Success Criterion.