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I haven't completely understand the concept of semantic HTML.

What benefits does the semantic HTML give, besides of readability/tag meaning/clean code? I've read the answers in What are the benefits of using semantic HTML? , but I haven't found any answer that says its usefulness to anyone besides coders/designers.

I've heard that semantic HTML is also useful for SEO, is it true? Also, is there any benefits for the users or for the browsers?

Sorry for my English, it is not my native language...

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deathlock
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  • possible duplicate of [What are the benefits of using semantic HTML?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1729447/what-are-the-benefits-of-using-semantic-html) – Jukka K. Korpela Apr 13 '12 at 14:23
  • @JukkaK.Korpela, I've read that question, it is even linked in my question if you notice it. :) The problem is that the question was too general, and I also do not find any answer for my question. So I started a new question/new thread. – deathlock Apr 13 '12 at 18:29
  • I don't want to be offensive, but how am I supposed to "improve answers" when I don't know what the answer is? I don't know, so I ask. In the question I'm specifying my question, if you notice I'm trying to be more specific by outlining what I mean (benefiting other people than coders), rather than asking more generally (benefits of semantic in general). :) – deathlock Apr 14 '12 at 09:41

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besides of readability/tag meaning/clean code

Not good enough for you? Those are substantial benefits by themselves.

With the semantic web, you can write software that understands the semantics, the meaning of pieces of data.

With that, you get better results from search (yes, better SEO), more relevant information and better ways to organize information.

Oded
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  • Apologize, I'm not saying that it's not good, I just want to know if semantic HTML actually benefits people besides the coder/the designer. I'm not a computer science graduate (only an amateur trying to understand web design) so I may not know too much.. thanks for the answer by the way! But what does it mean by "more relevant information"? Is it read by the search engine or other applications (browser, screen reader, etc)? – deathlock Apr 13 '12 at 11:04
  • @deathlock - It means that it can be read by anything and _have meaning_. For example, you could have your browser highlight addresses or phone numbers (and be sure that only addresses and phone numbers get highlighted). – Oded Apr 13 '12 at 11:05
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Accessibility!! Like for blind people, they use software to read internet pages and to navigate. A good semantic is a part of accessibility and a good help for them!

Plus all the stuff mentioned: SEO, clean code... Which are quite interesting also :)

Tacquet Benjamin
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  • I see... Thanks for the nice answer :) Then I suppose this means semantic HTML is also useful for browsers/softwares, right (which will help blind users to navigate)? – deathlock Apr 14 '12 at 09:44
  • Yes, correct. They use screen reader to navigate (if my memories are correct), the most famous is JAWS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_Access_With_Speech – Tacquet Benjamin Apr 17 '12 at 09:27