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Do search engines and/or screen readers give any importance to the new tags in HTML5?
Sometimes I think I will use HTML5 with the help of JavaScript, but what is the benefit if search engines and/or screen readers will not understand the new tags?
<header> and <div class="header"> are the same thing if <header> has no benefit for SEO and screen readers.
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HTML tags are bits of code that can be used to describe our content to search engines. We can use HTML tags to highlight the important parts of our copy, to describe images, and even to give instructions to search engine bots. HTML tags are also used to influence the way our pages appear in search results.
One of the most important features of HTML5 is its semantics. Semantic HTML refers to syntax that makes the HTML more comprehensible by better defining the different sections and layout of web pages. It makes web pages more informative and adaptable, allowing browsers and search engines to better interpret content.
The <caption> element and <table> summary attribute both do similar jobs — they act as alt text for a table, giving a screen reader user a useful quick summary of the table's contents. The <caption> element is generally preferred as it makes it's content accessible to sighted users too, who might also find it useful.
I haven’t heard of search engines paying attention to HTML5 tags yet, nor of any screen readers with HTML5 support.
But if/when screen readers do support HTML5, the new document outlining rules should make it easier for users to navigate HTML5 documents that use the sectioning and heading elements.
Companies that make screen readers might be waiting for there to be more HTML5 pages before implementing HTML5 support. It could be a chicken-and-egg problem.
Of course, there are new tags in HTML5 other than <header> that offer advantages unrelated to search engines and screen readers, e.g.
<canvas> (you get a 2D drawing surface, for like graphs and stuff)<video> (you get to use videos without having to use a Flash video player)
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