Comments on: Web Developers: Please Stop Using the Hx Tag as a Design Element http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/web-developers-please-stop-using-the-hx-tag-as-a-design-element/ Search Marketing Information to Render Your Competition Powerless! Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:23:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Cameron Clark http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/web-developers-please-stop-using-the-hx-tag-as-a-design-element/#comment-163122 Cameron Clark Wed, 21 May 2008 01:55:01 +0000 http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/emp/?p=2018#comment-163122 I agree. Hx tags, along with many other HTML tags, are abused and used out of context by way too many designers (with the table tag being perhaps the most abused tag of all time...poor thing). Thankfully, that's slowly changing as designers learn to use semantically correct code—meaning that tags are used for what they MEAN, not just how they LOOK. <em> means emphasis, not simply italics. <table> means a grid or table of data, rather than just being an aesthetic layout device. In your post, you said: "In CSS, it’s pretty easy to develop a style that allows you to have certain portions of text display exactly how you want. But apparently, coming up with a unique style and name is just. too. difficult. So instead of naming a new style, the developers just style an Hx tag..." You seem to be implying that styling existing HTML tags, like Hx tags, is usually just a case of laziness. One of the beautiful things about CSS is that--besides styling existing HTML tags--it's also possible to create any a unique class or ID for any object in a webpage that can then by independently styled by CSS. And while this is very often appropriate, it should be clarified that web designers SHOULD use standard HTML tags, like Hx tags, whenever appropriate and meaningful in their layouts. Too often, I see designers who've just picked up CSS running to the opposite end of the spectrum, littering their layouts with <div> & <span> tags that have no meaning whatsoever (both are just generic containers), when they could use used standard HTML tags with meaning attached to them instead (like Hx tags). A classic case is something like <div class='title'> being used where a <h1> would have actually been more appropriate and meaningful. In short, when creating webpages, every element should considered in terms of its meaning and hierarchy in the page. The tag you use for something should have everything to do with its meaning and as little as possible (ideally nothing) to do with how you're going to make it appear with CSS. And if you can't figure out how to get it to appear how you want with CSS...well then, you need to learn more CSS, because virtually anything is possible. I agree. Hx tags, along with many other HTML tags, are abused and used out of context by way too many designers (with the table tag being perhaps the most abused tag of all time…poor thing). Thankfully, that’s slowly changing as designers learn to use semantically correct code—meaning that tags are used for what they MEAN, not just how they LOOK. <em> means emphasis, not simply italics. <table> means a grid or table of data, rather than just being an aesthetic layout device.

In your post, you said:

“In CSS, it’s pretty easy to develop a style that allows you to have certain portions of text display exactly how you want. But apparently, coming up with a unique style and name is just. too. difficult. So instead of naming a new style, the developers just style an Hx tag…”

You seem to be implying that styling existing HTML tags, like Hx tags, is usually just a case of laziness.

One of the beautiful things about CSS is that–besides styling existing HTML tags–it’s also possible to create any a unique class or ID for any object in a webpage that can then by independently styled by CSS. And while this is very often appropriate, it should be clarified that web designers SHOULD use standard HTML tags, like Hx tags, whenever appropriate and meaningful in their layouts.

Too often, I see designers who’ve just picked up CSS running to the opposite end of the spectrum, littering their layouts with <div> & <span> tags that have no meaning whatsoever (both are just generic containers), when they could use used standard HTML tags with meaning attached to them instead (like Hx tags). A classic case is something like <div class=’title’> being used where a <h1> would have actually been more appropriate and meaningful.

In short, when creating webpages, every element should considered in terms of its meaning and hierarchy in the page. The tag you use for something should have everything to do with its meaning and as little as possible (ideally nothing) to do with how you’re going to make it appear with CSS.

And if you can’t figure out how to get it to appear how you want with CSS…well then, you need to learn more CSS, because virtually anything is possible.

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