Web/HTML/Element/section

The HTML <section> element 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.
Implicit ARIA role	`region` if the element has an accessible name, otherwise no corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	`alert`, `alertdialog`, `application`, `banner`, `complementary`, `contentinfo`, `dialog`, `document`, `feed`, `log`, `main`, `marquee`, `navigation`, `none`, `note`, `presentation`, `search`, `status`, `tabpanel`
DOM interface	`HTMLElement`

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Usage notes

Each <section> should be identified, typically by including a heading (<h1>-<h6> element) as a child of the <section> element.
If it makes sense to separately syndicate the content of a <section> element, use an <article> element instead.
Do not use the <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.

Example

Before

<div>
  <h1>Heading</h1>
  <p>Bunch of awesome content</p>
</div>

After

<section>
  <h1>Heading</h1>
  <p>Bunch of awesome content</p>
</section>

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<section>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML 5.1The definition of '<section>' in that specification.	Recommendation
HTML5The definition of '<section>' in that specification.	Recommendation

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`section`	Chrome Full support 5	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 4	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 11.1	Safari Full support 5	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 11.1	Safari iOS Full support 4.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support