# Shadow DOM visibility

Canonical HTML: /atlas/shadow-dom
Atlas version: atlas-2026-07-28-v1
Category: Rendering and client execution

## Definition

Shadow DOM encapsulates component markup behind a host element and a shadow root.

## How it works

Browser-based tools can inspect open shadow roots, while raw HTML parsers see only the host. Closed roots further limit programmatic inspection.

## How to validate it

Place an equivalent labeled fact in light DOM, open shadow DOM, and closed-shadow UI, then report extraction and citation separately.

## Common failure

Using encapsulation for primary article text can create inconsistent readings across crawlers, accessibility tools, and archival systems.

## Related topics

- [Client-rendered content](/atlas/client-rendering)
- [Lazy-loaded content](/atlas/lazy-content)