The real goal of HTML is not to be a text formatting language.
In this area, you shouldn't be using tags that promise absolute control over
text appearance. Instead, HTML is intended to be a semantic markup language,
adding value and meaning to your text so the browser can do the very best job of
displaying that text to the user.
Contextual style tags support that goal by allowing you to
indicate the context of the text, leaving the browser to decide how best to
display text in that context.
The contextual tags cover a range of meaning. They are as
follows:
| Tag |
Contents are |
Sample |
| <abbr> |
An abbreviation |
This is abbreviated text |
| <acronym> |
An acronym |
This is AA |
| <cite> |
A citation |
This is a citation |
| <code> |
Programming code |
This is code text |
| <dfn> |
A definition |
This is a definition |
| <em> |
Emphasized text |
This is emphasized text |
| <kbd> |
Keyboard entry |
This is keyboard text |
| <samp> |
SA sample value |
This is a sample example |
| <strong> |
Strongly emphasized text |
This is very important text |
| <var> |
Variables |
This is a variable |
What did your browser do with these tags? Some browsers will
ignore a number of these tags, especially the newer ones (<abbr>
and <acronym>) defined
by HTML 4.0. Many of the tags get similar treatment, usually being shown in
italic or a mono spaced font.
Why use contextual
tags?
With such variable support, why would you rely on contextual
tags to add to your text?
Contextual tags give the browser much greater latitude over the
text presentation, and will really help things when your document is presented
in a non-textual medium for disabled readers. They also make a big difference
when your document is processed by indexing tools and other Web automatons. By
correctly tagging citations, acronyms, and abbreviations, for example, automated
tools can extract glossaries, bibliographies, and other helpful support
documents.
It may seem like extra work, but using these tags whenever
possible will make your documents much more valuable as browsers and Web
management tools mature.
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