The Future of Inclusivity
Published on April 13, 2026
Native web standards are the foundation of a truly accessible digital world...
The <article> Element
As defined in the HTML Living Standard, the <article> element represents a complete, or self-contained, composition in a document, page, application, or site and that is, in principle, independently distributable or reusable.
Visual Example:
<article>
<header>
<h2>Blog Post Title</h2>
<p>Posted by Jane Doe</p>
</header>
<p>This is the article content...</p>
</article>
View HTML Living Standard: The article element
Key Characteristics & Best Practices
- Independence: If you could take the content out of the page and put it on another site (like an RSS feed) and it still makes sense, it should likely be an
<article>. - Headings: Articles should almost always be identified by a heading (h1-h6) as a child of the element.
- Nesting: Articles can be nested. For example, user comments on a blog post can each be represented as an
<article>nested within the main blog post<article>.
WCAG Requirement: Info and Relationships
Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Level A): Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined.
Using <article> provides a landmark role for assistive technologies. Screen readers allow users to navigate quickly between different "article" regions, allowing them to skip irrelevant content or jump to specific posts.
Common Use Cases
Appropriate uses for the <article> tag include:
- Forum posts
- Magazine or newspaper articles
- Blog entries
- User-submitted comments
- Interactive widgets or gadgets
A11y Tip: Article vs. Section
Use <section> for thematic groupings of content that are part of a larger whole. Use <article> for content that can stand on its own.