As discussed in the comment to this answer, several users of this site use Markdown blockquotes (lines starting with >
, like in an e-mail) to emphasize text. For instance:
Please stop using Markdown blockquotes like this.
That tag is converted to HTML's <blockquote>
; both are semantic tag, that are supposed to signal that the text is a citation. Misusing tags can mess things up with web parsers, search engine crawlers, and screen readers for disabled people. While blockquote
s may seem less dangerous to misuse that other tags such as code
, I still think it's bad practice.
Moreover, If the default CSS is altered, they may end up not looking like users expect. For instance, an user here states that they look much different in the mobile layout, and they don't seem like emphasized text at all.
We have had a discussion on the same notes on meta.academia.se, and other people, including a W3C working draft, recommend against this misuse in HTML.