Summary
Use the article
element to identify self-contained articles of content within a
digital publication.
Techniques
-
Use the
article
element for self-contained articles, such as found in magazines, journals, and newspapers. [[WCAG-1.3.1]] -
Include a heading for each article [[WCAG-1.3.1]]
-
Use the
aside
element for secondary material within an article, such as sidebars. [[WCAG-1.3.1]]
Examples
Frequently Asked Questions
- Should I use
aside
orarticle
? -
The
aside
element is best used when the content is explains or expands on the primary narrative. It is most appropriate for sidebars, glossaries, and similar explanatory content.The
article
element is best used when the content is independent from the other content of the document or publication. In a scientific journal, for example, each article is independent of the others, even if they have a common theme.
Explanation
Although article-based publications are not common in trade publishing, they are central to areas of
publishing like scientific journals. When publications contain articles, it is possible to use the
semantically precise article
element to tag them.
According to the HTML specification the content of an article
element is, in principle,
independently distributable or reusable, e.g. in syndication
. An article, in this sense, is
like its own self-contained mini publication within a larger digital work. Where the
section
element is used to partition works into smaller sections, an article
element represents a discrete container of content that may itself be subdivided using
section
elements.
The primary difference between article
and section
tags for users of
assistive technologies is in how they are identified. A section
is considered a
landmark while an article
is not. Standalone assistive technologies, like Jaws and NVDA,
typically allow users to navigate to articles regardless of this difference, but articles are not
included in the list of landmarks for a page.
The article
element is also sometimes used to encapsulate scripted content, such as
interactive games. It is not limited to the traditional publishing concept of an article but can be
thought of as encapsulating any discrete item of content.
Related Links
- MDN — <article>: The Article Contents element
- HTML — The
article
element - HTML — Headings and sections