Web Development
Web Developer Guidelines
Visual Design Recommendations

Checkpoint 1.7 - Core

<blockquote> element is not used to indent text

WCAG 1.0 Priority 2

WCAG Guideline 3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

HTML was designed as a structural language therefore its elements are not meant to be used for presentational purposes. Since there is no HTML element or attribute to indent text on a page, some designers use <blockquote> to achieve this visual effect.

This practice can seriously undermine web page accessibility as assistive technologies, such as screen readers and search robots, will interpret this element for its logical (not presentational) value and assume a quotation where it wasn't intended. This can confuse and misguide users of assistive technologies.

Requirement

Do not use the <blockquote> element to indent text.

Recommendation

When paragraph indentation is required, CSS should be used instead.

Checking Tool

  • Internet Explorer - AIS toolbar: Structure > Blockquote / Q
  • Firefox - Web Developer's Toolbar: Outline > Outline Custom Elements, type blockquote and hit OK

Information Source

The original source of this information is located on the W3C web site  www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-CORE-TECHS/#structure)

 

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