The <section> represents a standalone section — which doesn't have a more specific semantic element to represent it — contained within an HTML document. Typically, but not always, sections have a heading.
As an example, a navigation menu should be wrapped in a <nav> element, but a list of search results and a map display and its controls don't have specific elements, and could be put inside a <section>.
Note: If the contents of the element would make sense syndicated as a standalone piece, the <article> element may be a better choice.
| 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. |
| Permitted ARIA roles |
alert, alertdialog, application, banner, complementary, contentinfo, dialog, document, feed, log, main, marquee, navigation, search, status, tabpanel
|
| DOM interface | HTMLElement |
This element only includes the global attributes.
<section> should be identified, typically by including a heading (<h1>-<h6> element) as a child of the <section> element.<section> element, use an <article> element instead.<section> element as a generic container; this is what <div> is for, especially when the sectioning is only for styling purposes. A rule of thumb is that a section should logically appear in the outline of a document.<div> <h1>Heading</h1> <p>Bunch of awesome content</p> </div>
<section> <h1>Heading</h1> <p>Bunch of awesome content</p> </section>
<div> <h2>Heading</h2> <img src="bird.jpg" alt="bird"> </div>
<section> <h2>Heading</h2> <img src="bird.jpg" alt="bird"> </section>
| Specification | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| HTML Living Standard The definition of '<section>' in that specification. | Living Standard | |
| HTML 5.1 The definition of '<section>' in that specification. | Recommendation | |
| HTML5 The definition of '<section>' in that specification. | Recommendation |
| Desktop | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | |
| Basic support | 5 | Yes | 4 | 9 | 11.1 | 4.1 |
| Mobile | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge Mobile | Firefox for Android | Opera for Android | iOS Safari | Samsung Internet | |
| Basic support | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 | 11 | 4.2 | Yes |
<body>, <nav>, <article>, <aside>, <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <hgroup>, <header>, <footer>, <address>;
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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/section