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Descriptive markup
HTML is widely used on the Web as a way of structuring content in text documents. This structure is called markup. Descriptive markup (also called ‘semantic markup’ or ‘generalised markup’) is HTML as it was originally intended: adding structure and meaning to the content. Descriptive markup tells a browser what the content is, instead of what it does or how it should look.
Write both grammatically correct and descriptive markup.
Guideline R-pd.3.1
The difference between descriptive and valid markup
Descriptive markup is not the same thing as valid markup. Valid markup (well-formed markup) is markup that satisfies the HTML standard grammatically. This grammar can be checked (validated) by a programme. Descriptive markup cannot be checked automatically. A document can be grammatically correct, while containing meaningless markup. Aim at achieving both grammatically correct and descriptive markup.
A brief history of HTML
In the early days of HTML, markup did not amount to much. There was markup for headings, paragraphs and titles. This was a modest attempt to describe the content. HTML evolved, and browser vendors like Netscape and Microsoft asserted their influence. The commercialisation of the Web led to markup for font styles, colours and other visual effects; markup that indicates how content should look, visual markup.
Nowadays, web developers have a broad repertoire of markup codes at their disposal to add meaning to content. In addition there is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which is more effective and advanced than visual markup. With the browser current support for CSS and the need for accessible websites, there is no longer any reason to use visual markup rather than descriptive markup.
Writing descriptive markup
Descriptive markup should be based on the (textual) content of the page.s The web developer or content manager applies structure to this content from a repertoire of HTML elements, each with its own purpose. 
Links and references
- On Semantics And Markup
Tim Bray - Standards don’t necessarily have anything to do with being semantically correct
Jason Kottke - Separation: The Web Designer’s Dilemma
Michael Cohen - Semantics, HTML, XHTML, and Structure
Shirley E. Kaiser - Semantic Markup, Accessibility, Better Search Engine Rankings
Shirley E. Kaiser
