[whatwg] Giving the <body> tag a new meaning.

Tue Mar 1 12:32:35 PST 2011

On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 12:09 PM, usuario <soyhobo at gmail.com> wrote:
> The real issue is with change, never is too late.
> Many of the new elements in html5 are for semantic purposes. Being now a
> <header> and a <footer>, there is only one left thing that's pretty obvious.
>
> I am not proposing the body tag for disappear, but allow it for a new
> implementation. And perhaps in say 10 years, discontinue it as document
> start element, when the change be widely spread.
>
> The reason? a better semantics advantages.

So, what is the problem you're trying to solve?  Semantics are useless
on their own; we only care about semantics insofar as they help us to
solve problems.  For example, the new sectioning elements help
somewhat in styling and code readability, and make the page easier to
automatically navigate, so things like screen-readers can consume the
pages more easily.

What problem is caused by the current <body> tag that you'd like to fix?

It may be helpful to read
<http://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/FAQ#Is_there_a_process_for_adding_new_features_to_a_specification.3F>,
which explains the process by which we add new features to HTML.

~TJ