How do I semantically group a header with a UL in HTML?

Question

I have an HTML document where I would like to semantically group text to the head of a UL as a "header." The initial attempt looks like this:

    <ul id="databases">
        Databases:
        <li>Microsoft SQL Server - 10+ years</li>
        <li>Sybase SQL Server - 5 years</li>
        <li>Oracle - 5 years</li>
    </ul>

The W3C validator points out that there's no text allowed inside a UL, but outside a LI. I could put the text inside an LI, then use the pseudo-class :first-child to find the "header" in my CSS, but this is clearly not the semantically correct way.

How do I handle this properly?

Answer 1

It should not be set in the first li because this would assume a sibling relationship to the preceding li elements whereas the header is more important in the hierarchy. Imagine screen-readers etc

<h2>Databases:</h2>
<ul id="databases">        
    <li>Microsoft SQL Server - 10+ years</li>
    <li>Sybase SQL Server - 5 years</li>
    <li>Oracle - 5 years</li>
</ul>

Swap out the h2 for a h(n) depending on the hierarchy in relation to the other headers on the page. To target the header in css just give it a class if there are other headers that will share the same style e.g.

<h2 class="subHeader">Languages:</h2>
<ul id="languages">        
    <li>English</li>
    <li>Chinese</li>
    <li>French</li>
</ul>

Otherwise give it an id

Answer 2

You could try the "Definition List" tag for your listing purposes. You get a much cleaner code.

<dl>
  <dt>Databases</dt>
   <dd>Microsoft SQL Server - 10+ years</dd>
   <dd>Sybase SQL Server - 5 years</dd>
   <dd>Oracle - 5 years</dd>
  <dt>Second heading</dt>
   <dd>Item 1</dd>
   <dd>Item 2</dd>
   <dd>Item 3</dd>
</dl>

More information on Definition List here http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_dl.asp

Answer 3

Just for reference, HTML 3.0 had <lh>:

<ul>
    <lh>This is a list header!
    <li>Item A
    <li>Item B
    <li>Item C
</ul>