Web Page Creation for writers - part 5- Physical vs Logical Markup -

HuH? You say if you are new to web making or even if you, like me, use a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) web page program. I use CoffeeCup and when I started, I did not know anything. But, I always search for the whys and as I designed my site, I wanted to know 'why it did that' and 'how it did this.' I also was forever wanting it to do something different than it was doing, so I had to learn why it was doing what it was and how to change it.



I learned a lot about HTML that way. In redoing my page and wanting to make it accessible to as many as I can, I have learned that there is a Physical markup and a Logical Markup. I found my first definition here Dan's Web Tips: Physical vs. Logical Markup.



Physical tags affect the physical look of the words: italic & bold & underline, etc. (The carrots surround the initial that tells what you want done: i for italic, b for bold, u for underline, etc. The slash in front of the end set of carrots is the 'not' or 'end', as in end the italics here.)



Logical tags refer to the "structure and meaning of a document" and only suggest their appearance. Examples: (This is tough because the editor here is putting these into action. But, at least you get to see what some of them do.)

= emphasized text
= strong emphasis

Your best bet here is to go to a couple of sites to become more familiar:

Site one is: html guide - online HTML guide - logical tags in HTML - free html guide - online beginners html guide free Who states that there are actually nine logical codes:

There are 9 logical tags each requiring a closing tag:
Strong: I am strong = STRONG in carrots and a closing carrot
Emphasis: I am emphasized = EM in carrots and with a closing carrot
Abbreviation: I am abbreviated = ABBR
Citation: Citation = CITE
Code: I am programming code = CODE
Definition: Definition = DFN
Keyboard: Quite like keyboard strokes = KBD
Sample: Sample = SAMP
Programming Variable: Programming Variable = VAR

If I am understanding this right, then these are it and anything else that needs doing you go to the physical code.

Then, go to: HTML Logical Tags - HTML Code Tutorial And I'm recommending you go there and learn it from an expert. He also has lists of Logical Tags. But, don't let this scare you from using a WYSIWYG web page creator. It's just something to be aware of and occasionally, as you get more familiar with HTML, you will find yourself changing out tags to bring them into compliance.

There are no police out there saying you have to do it now, it is just that you will want to do the best for your viewers you can; including the 20% disabled.