<section>: The Generic Section element
The <section>
HTML element represents a generic standalone section of a document, which doesn't have a more specific semantic element to represent it. Sections should always have a heading, with very few exceptions.
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Attributes
This element only includes the global attributes.
Usage notes
As mentioned above, <section>
is a generic sectioning element, and should only be used if there isn't a more specific element to represent it. As an example, a navigation menu should be wrapped in a <nav>
element, but a list of search results or a map display and its controls don't have specific elements, and could be put inside a <section>
.
Also consider these cases:
- If the contents of the element represent a standalone, atomic unit of content that makes sense syndicated as a standalone piece (e.g. a blog post or blog comment, or a newspaper article), the
<article>
element would be a better choice. - If the contents represent useful tangential information that works alongside the main content, but is not directly part of it (like related links, or an author bio), use an
<aside>
. - If the contents represent the main content area of a document, use
<main>
. - If you are only using the element as a styling wrapper, use a
<div>
instead.
To reiterate, each <section>
should be identified, typically by including a heading (h1 - h6 element) as a child of the <section>
element, wherever possible. See below for examples of where you might see a <section>
without a heading.
Examples
Simple usage example
Before
html
<div>
<h2>Heading</h2>
<p>Bunch of awesome content</p>
</div>
Result
After
html
<section>
<h2>Heading</h2>
<p>Bunch of awesome content</p>
</section>
Result
Using a section without a heading
Circumstances where you might see <section>
used without a heading are typically found in web application/UI sections rather than in traditional document structures. In a document, it doesn't really make any sense to have a separate section of content without a heading to describe its contents. Such headings are useful for all readers, but particularly useful for users of assistive technologies like screen readers, and they are also good for SEO.
Consider however a secondary navigation mechanism. If the global navigation is already wrapped in a <nav>
element, you could conceivably wrap a previous/next menu in a <section>
:
html
<section>
<a href="#">Previous article</a>
<a href="#">Next article</a>
</section>
Or what about some kind of button bar for controlling your app? This might not necessarily want a heading, but it is still a distinct section of the document:
html
<section>
<button class="reply">Reply</button>
<button class="reply-all">Reply to all</button>
<button class="fwd">Forward</button>
<button class="del">Delete</button>
</section>
Make sure to use some assistive technology and screen-reader-friendly CSS to hide it, like so:
css
.hidden {
position: absolute;
top: -9999px;
left: -9999px;
}
Result
Depending on the content, including a heading could also be good for SEO, so it is an option to consider.
Technical summary
Content categories | Flow content, Sectioning content, palpable content. |
---|---|
Permitted content | Flow content. |
Tag omission | None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory. |
Permitted parents |
Any element that accepts
flow content. Note that a <section> element must not be a
descendant of an <address> element.
|
Implicit ARIA role |
region
if the element has an
accessible name, otherwise
no corresponding role
|
Permitted ARIA roles |
alert , alertdialog ,
application , banner ,
complementary ,
contentinfo , dialog ,
document , feed ,
log , main ,
marquee , navigation ,
none , note ,
presentation , search ,
status , tabpanel
|
DOM interface | HTMLElement |
Specifications
Specification |
---|
HTML Standard # the-section-element |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser