Third-party cyber evaluations involving OpenAI models
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Data Science
Simon Willison's Blog·May 23·5 min read
On the <dl>
TL;DR
Web developers often lack clear guidance on the HTML <dl> (description list) element and its accessibility implications. Ben Meyer's article and Adrian Roselli's notes on screen reader support provided practical insights into proper <dl> usage.
✦ Why It Matters
Engineers can now confidently use <dl> elements with awareness of screen reader compatibility and accessibility best practices.
Key Takeaways
- Utilize <dl> for structured information presentation.
- Group <dt> and <dd> elements in a <div> for better styling.
- Implement ARIA labels to enhance accessibility.
- Remember that <dt> can have multiple <dd> elements.
Full Summary
The <dl> element in HTML is used to create description lists, which consist of terms (<dt>) and descriptions (<dd>). A key feature is that a single <dt> can be followed by multiple <dd> elements, allowing for more detailed information.
Additionally, developers can group <dt> and <dd> elements within a <div> for styling purposes, although only a <div> is permitted for this grouping. Since an HTML5 draft in 2008, these lists have been referred to as description lists rather than definition lists.
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) labeling can also be applied to enhance accessibility for screen readers. This flexibility in structure and styling makes <dl> a powerful tool for presenting related information clearly.