Structured content vs semantic HTML

Structured Content

Structured content, as the title suggests, is content that has a tight structure, it is content in little boxes that are interconnected to make it easier to access from mutliple different streams of media. Structured content is highly defined and innterconnected to make it easier for different algorithms to decipher on their own.

Semantic HTML

Like structured content this is how text is displayed on a webpage, the only difference is it is not as structured and while it may be easy for us people to read on a site, it is very difficult for an algorithm to read and decipher. Different modes of media cannot take what we find easily readable and decipher it based on how it is formatted.

How do they work together?

While both may have their differences in who can see them, they have their similarities in helping people find what they need easier. A page that uses semantic HTML is very easy and clean for a person who is accessing information through a screen, but that is not the only way to access information. When content is properly structured into the boxes that make it easy for algorithms to read, a person does not always need to be looking at a screen to have access to the same information. In this way they both work to get the information to the user.

Why is it important to have structured content and semantic HTML in your web pages?

It is good to have both semantic HTML and structured content work together on your webpage because a good website will have both. A stylized version of the site in HTML so the reader may have a pleasant experience with viewing it on a screen, but also have structured content living in the code so that if a Smart Device like Google Home or Alexa are trying to access information they can find it easily.

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Required reading questions

Denise Jacobs argues that we all have a troll-like inner critic. Of the methods she identifies to banish this troll, which would be most successful for you? Why?

For me personally, I feel like the best way to banish my troll is to be bad at something. I put things off for as long as I can for fear of failure, I'm a perfectionist who seems lazy because I don't want to do things, when in reality I'm paralyzed by fear of failure, so I never start. If I allow myself to be bad at something first, I'm allowing myself to do more, and after failing once you can only make progress from there, I can say I've done it, and so it won't be as big and scary as that troll once was.

In David McRaney's article, what is "hyperbolic discounting"? List one method McRaney identifies to counteract hyperbolic discounting. Which would work best for you?

Hyperbolic discounting is when a person becomes more rational the more they have to wait for something, though this is rarely ever true for people as we like immediate grattitude rather than delayed. For me personally I believe the best way to tackle it is to admit I will procrasinate, if I leave everything for future me nothing will get done, I enjoyed the example of setting meal plans that now-you makes for future-you that will have consequences if not done. I can work well with others and don't like to let people down so planning to work on an assignment at a specific time will hold future-me accountable by now-me.