{dev_notes}

HTML Document

Published 5 years ago.
Last updated

An HTML Document is a text file written for web browsers to read.

Absolute Basic HTML5 Document

The absolute basic HTML structure needed to define a document:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <title>Doc Title</title>
    </head>
    <body>
         <!-- Document content goes here. -->
    </body>
</html>

Basic HTML5 Document

Same as the most basic HTML structure but with some added common elements:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
    <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
        <title>Doc Title</title>
        <link name="global-styles" rel="stylesheet" href="/css/global.css">
        <script name="globalsite-javascript" src="/js/global.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
        <header>
             <div><a href="/"><span>Site Title</span></a></div>
             <nav>
                 <!-- Global navigation menu goes here. -->
             </nav>
        </header>
        <main>
            <h1>Page Title</h1>
            <!-- Main page content goes here. -->
        </main>
        <aside>
            <!-- Sidebar content goes here. -->
        </aside>
        <footer></footer>
    </body>
</html>

Document Outline

  • Make <h1> the main heading of your page, then use <h2> through <h6>, etc. in a proper hierarchy without skipping levels.

  • <section> can be used with aria-label to signal to a screen reader user where a particular sub-part of an article begins and ends. Otherwise, forget about it, or use another element, such as <aside aria-label=”quick summary”> or <div role=”region” aria-label=”quick summary”>.

  • <main>, <header>, <footer> and <nav> are very useful for screen reader users, and entirely transparent to those who don’t use assistive technology. So use them.

  • <article> isn’t just for blog posts — it’s for any self-contained thing. It also helps WatchOS display your content properly.

  • https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/01/html5-article-section/