[thelist] replace <b> with <strong> (why dont use b tag)]

[Andy Warwick]

> At 03:03 PM 7/31/2002 -0700, Hassan Schroeder said something
remarkably
> like (but somehow subtly different from):
>
> >The Director of MARCOM and the VP of Marketing put their pointy
> >little heads together and decide the middle word of the name of
> >the new product line will appear bold and red in all instances,
> >including online.
> >
> >That certainly doesn't constitute "meaning" in my sense of the word,
> >though it's not exactly random either :-)
>
> That is pretty close to the example I have used for when <b> is
actually
> preferable to <strong>. If it is purely a visual element with no
> semantic
> meaning at all.

In which case I would use <span style="yadda, yadda"></span> or - even
better - <span class="product-middle-word"></span> rather than <b>, as
it also is purely visual markup. It also has the advantage of being
easier to change when they decide they want it green and italic, which
would make a <b> tag exactly the *wrong* tag. Change 1 class definition
or have to do a search and replace for <b> tags to change them to <i>
tags, but only when around the product middle word; I know which I'd
rather do...

As the web moves to separate content and presentation, I can't see any
use for the <b> or <i> tags that cannot be done better with CSS if they
are used purely for visual effect, and <strong> and <em> when they
*mean* something. If there is a situation where you need both, simply
style the <strong> and <em> tags.

Andy W