[whatwg] Semantic markup for buzzwords

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Apr 1, 2008, at 2:48 AM, Alexey Feldgendler wrote:

> This is a proposal for semantic markup in HTML5.
>
> Problem statement:
>
> Modern web pages, especially those written for marketing purposes,  
> often include so-called buzzwords, or trend-leveraging verbal  
> tokens. Markup for them is needed both to achieve distinct visual  
> rendering and to emphasize them for search engines. Despite the need  
> for specialized semantic markup, currently no such markup exists,  
> and authors use ad-hoc presentational markup for buzzwords.
>
> Proposed solution:
>
> Redefine the existing deprecated presentational element <B> to mean  
> a buzzword. Keep existing default style (font-weight: bold)  
> associated with it. With such formatting, buzzwords will visually  
> stand out on the page, allowing the reader, such as a prospective VC  
> evaluating an IT project proposal, to briefly skim through a web  
> page picking out only buzzwords.
>
> Advantages:
>
> * The solution is backward compatible with existing browsers which  
> already implement distinct rendering for <B>.
> * The practice of using <B> to mark up buzzwords is already widely  
> adopted.
> * Some search engines rank words marked up with <B> higher than the  
> rest of the text.
> * <B> is a nice single-letter tag name that would be sad to waste as  
> an obsolete element.


I believe the current definition of the B element allows for such use:

http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#the-b

"The b element represents a span of text to be stylistically offset  
from the normal prose without conveying any extra importance, such as  
key words in a document abstract, product names in a review, or other  
spans of text whose typical typographic presentation is boldened."

Regards,
Maciej