# Semantic HTML

Canonical HTML: /atlas/semantic-html
Atlas version: atlas-2026-07-28-v1
Category: Content structure for machines

## Definition

Semantic HTML uses elements according to their meaning rather than only their visual appearance.

## How it works

Headings, articles, navigation, lists, tables, and links give parsers stable structural cues before statistical interpretation begins.

## How to validate it

Read the document outline and landmark structure without CSS, then compare extracted text order with the visible reading order.

## Common failure

A visually polished collection of generic div elements forces every downstream reader to reconstruct relationships from styling and position.

## Related topics

- [Heading hierarchy](/atlas/heading-hierarchy)
- [Structured data](/atlas/structured-data)