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Re: Empty <P> Tags For Spacing

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From: Swift, Daniel P.
Date: Feb 8, 2022 5:36AM

While I don't think it's an accessibility issue, my opinion is that empty paragraph tags should be removed and the spacing should be addressed using CSS.

Daniel Swift, MBA
Senior Web Specialist
University Communications and Marketing
West Chester University
610.738.0589

From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Peter Shikli
Sent: Monday, February 7, 2022 11:48 PM
To: WebAIM Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] Empty <P> Tags For Spacing

The use of empty <p> tags to provide space between paragraphs in a
webpage...Is this a strict violation in the WCAG principles, or is it
something that is just a nuisance and could be “suggested” as a removal
to the owner of the page?

I couldn't find any answers in my resources about CSS and HTML failures.
The closest I came was the technique G115: Using semantic elements to
mark up structure, which specifies: “The objective of this technique is
to mark up the structure of the Web content using the appropriate
semantic elements. In other words, the elements are used according to
their meaning, not because of the way they appear visually.”

Am I looking at this in the correct manner, and/or are there other
techniques, or a hard and fast rule that I can apply when I am examining
a webpage? I really appreciate the help.

Peter Shikli on behalf of analyst
Danielle Cox
Access2online Inc.
www.access2online.com<;http://www.access2online.com>;
Prison inmates helping the internet become accessible