How deeply does Web Design Playground, Second Edition cover u element?

Defines the element’s vague annotation meaning and browser rendering, but develops no practical semantic use.

U element

As explained in Web Design Playground, Second Edition

The HTML u element marks a span of text with an explicitly rendered non-textual annotation, commonly producing an underline.

The HTML element marks text with an explicitly rendered non-textual annotation. In practice, browsers underline it—an unfortunate design choice because visitors may mistake it for a link. section 16.1

For emphasis, use instead. The element has no useful role here, so treat it as something to recognize in existing markup rather than reach for in new code. section 16.1

A misleading underline

This is a really bad idea: looks just like a link. The browser underlines the text, but clicking it does nothing. section 16.1

It's a really bad idea to use the <code>u</code> element because its text <u>looks just like a link</u>.

See the compact example showing why underlined text can be mistaken for a link. section 16.1

How Web Design Playground, Second Edition covers it

Cover of Web Design Playground, Second Edition

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Related concepts

em elementcontrasts with · The em element is an HTML element that semantically marks text for emphasis or stress, conventionally rendered in italics by browsers.
i elementcontrasts with · The i element is an HTML element that marks text set apart from surrounding prose by a different voice, mood, or semantic role.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Web Design Playground, Second Edition. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.