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Re: bold vs. strong, italics vs. emphasis

for

From: John E Brandt
Date: Dec 15, 2012 12:07PM


Bevi,

I too was confused about this topic and wrote a blog entry about the
confusion about 18 months ago (reference below). I know the topic was
discuss here in this list then and has been several times in the past as
well.

As you can tell from the comments here now, there is no "official answer" as
to the distinction. I recall that in WAI WCAG 1.0 they began several of the
guidelines with the phrase "until user agents..." indicating the hope
perhaps that someday the technology would catch up with the real world and
solve some the access problems.

As I noted in that old blog entry, "... I can even remember a time when
there was serious talk that these tags would eventually be used by screen
reader software (and all text to speech applications) in a way that would
actually "express" the emphasis in the aural output. But that technological
advancement has not happened (yet)."

Someday...

Here is my old blog entry if you need something to help you sleep...
http://jebswebs.net/blog/2011/06/html5-i-b-em-strong-whats-the-scoop/
Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/3p8xm22

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Chagnon | PubCom
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 2:58 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] bold vs. strong, italics vs. emphasis

While doing research for a client's project, I stumbled on this article that
attempts to describe the difference between the <b> and <strong> tags, and
the <i> and <em> tags in HTML4 and HTML5.

The article: http://www.impressivewebs.com/bold-italic-html5/

Here's what I understand from the author's interpretation of the HTML 4 & 5
specifications:

<b> and <i> are only for visual formatting, that is to make the text appear
different on the screen. From the spec, "stylistically offset from the
normal prose without conveying any extra importance."

<strong> and <em> are for giving the text more importance. From the spec,
"strong importance for its contents."

How does this interpretation mesh with accessibility? Does it mean that <b>
and <i> are only stylized and, therefore, not necessary for blind users to
see?

What say thee, oh wise web-AIM ones? I'd like your thoughts on this.



-Bevi Chagnon

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Accessibility.

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- It's our 31st year! -

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