What is Semantic Web?
Proper web development is universally understood, thanks to internationally recognized standards.
Most recognizeably, w3.org, aka the World Wide Web Consortium(W3C) is a global community that sets the standards we follow.
Best practices go far beyond what the users experience. In development, there are unlimited ways to create the same end result. A more skilled developer writes code in such a way that future development, and future changes in the web are considered.
Websites frequently stay up for decades. As the internet becomes accessible to more people in the world, and more devices are introduced, this should also be taken into account.
Just because a page looks right on your screen, doesn’t ensure everyone will experience the same thing.
Semantic web development aims to please everyone.
The developer, site owner, and website visitors all benefit from a website that follows guidelines and standards.
Semantic HTML
The Document Object Model(DOM) is basically the skeleton of a webpage. Search engine bots, and certain devices, only interact with the DOM, and no other part of the site, such as the style and colors.
There are numerous ways to structure HTML to get the same result. However, someone savvy with semantic HTML, will build things in a way that is proper for all users, and optimal for search engines.
HTML Tags
HTML is equipped with different tags. This is how a developer can put together the DOM.
Paragraphs, headings, lists, images, and anchors, are some of the popular HTML tags. Though there are many, many more.
HTML tags can be used in such a way that give your page a clear structure.
Accessibility
W3C also publishes globally recognized accessibility guidelines. It is part of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). They publish a series of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG). Currently there are 3 versions of guidelines, WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2.
How to check if your code is valid
W3 also has a HTML validation tool.
Modern website builds however, take many things into account in the build process. With certain compatibility and guidelines that get automatically shipped with your code.
It is also useful to browse your site with The Narrator (as it’s called on Windows). Letting a screen reader talk its way through your webpages is a simple test anyone can perform.