WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

RE: semantic difference between EM and STRONG and when should the y be combined

for

From: Jukka Korpela
Date: Aug 15, 2002 10:48PM

Tim Luoma wrote:

> I've been using EM and STRONG for awhile, but I want to make
> sure that I'm using them correctly....

EM means 'emphasis', STRONG means 'strong emphasis'. But views differ on
what this really means.

> When you would use EM rather than STRONG?

For example, when I just emphasize part of a statement to make its point
clearer, as in "I did <em>not</em> mean that!".

> When you would use STRONG rather than EM?

Typically, to highlight key words and phrases. Naturally, I need to remember
that not all people well see them in bold, or otherwise visually
highlighted. And although HTML 2.0 required that EM and STRONG be presented
as different from each other and from normal text, that simply doesn't
always happen. In speech synthesis, the effect might be absent, or in fact
it could be disturbing. Strong visual emphasis on words within running text
can be distracting too.

Hence, I'm generally moving away from STRONG, into using headings instead.
Headings work better both in "normal" browsing and in other modes. But I
might still us STRONG near the start of a paragraph.

> When you would use BOTH combined (if ever)?

Well, a paragraph where I strongly emphasize a key word could well contain
words and phrases that I'd like to emphasize somewhat. But I wouldn't
normally _nest_ STRONG and EM. Although nesting them is perfectly valid, and
although browsers have been recommended to "honor nested emphasis", it is
not clear what this should really mean, or what it really causes.

--
Jukka Korpela, senior adviser
TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre
http://www.tieke.fi
Phone: +358 9 4763 0397 Fax: +358 9 4763 0399


----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/