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…web design…
<b> & <i> vs. <strong> & <em>…?
This must be one of the more confusing issues in standardized web design today – for whatever reason. What <b> & <i> got to do with <strong> & <em> is beyond me, but some still argue back and forth as if these two sets of elements are somehow connected.
Ok, so <b> and <strong> both tend to default to visual bold, and <i> and <em> both most often default to visual italic – and so what? What does the visual have to do with it?
Default styles have exactly nothing to do with anything when it comes to semantic use of elements, and the simple fact is that <b> & <i> have the semantic value of a prestyled <span> – exactly none.
<strong> & <em> definitely do have semantic value though, as <strong> = “put strong emphasis on content” and <em> = “put emphasis on content”.
make up your mind…
Do you simply want visual bold and/or italic, or do you really want to put emphasis, or maybe even strong emphasis on content?
If you look at how I have styled them in the above paragraph, then you'll probably see that they are visually different. That matters – visually, but the choice of element matters much more on a non-vusual level.
Any somewhat decent software will handle them differently – regardless of how they are styled, so applying them wrongly doesn't help much on what you're trying to get across. Only <strong> & <em> have the “power” to add semantic value to their content, and should be used only for that purpose – whenever and wherever the need arises.
Replacing <b> with <strong> and <i> with <em>, only makes sense when you want to add semantic value to their content – not when you only want to add style to their content.
Visual style has nothing to do with semantics, although one can play “visual tricks” on unaware visitors by not reflecting semantics visually. It is better to use CSS in line with elements' semantic values though, so all visitors get the same message.
I have made up my mind…
I make heavy use of <b> and <i> to break up the visual flow – like visual cues without any non-visual meaning, and I see no point in applying a prestyled <span> when I only want italic or bold text. Neither <b> nor <i> are deprecated in the standards I adhere to, although some seem to depreciate those who make use of these elements.
I don't “raise my voice” very often, but I apply <em> and <strong> whenever and wherever I find them appropriate. It is the content that dictates when and where these and other elements get used, as it should be.
I do depreciate when elements are used with total disregard for their semantic value, and there are times I wish there were more elements to choose amongst so I could get everything perfectly right every time. Don't know if there's much hope for semantic improvements in the near future, but the <b> and <i> will still be with us.
sincerely 
Hageland 25.nov.2007
last rev: 25.nov.2007
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