---
title: "An “adapt” HTML prefix"
date: 2022-11-05T10:45:56-07:00
---
The Accessible Platform Architectures (<abbr>APA</abbr>) working group hopes to designate `adapt-` as a reserved prefix in HTML 5. You can read the draft proposal [on the public-adapt mailing list](https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-adapt/2022Nov/0008.html).

The "Adapt" family of specifications will allow pages to expose generic meanings behind elements, and allow users to "switch" these to versions they understand. A sarcastic sentence could have a literal alternative; words can be swapped with symbols. Like RDFa and Microdata, this will also allow authors to describe meanings behind page elements; unlike prior art, these meanings will be intended for humans and [have close synergy with the surrounding markup]({{<relref "/notes/rdf-versus-semantic-html.md">}}).

Personalization semantics make pages easier for users to understand, especially neurodivergent users. I like to think of it as primarily---but not exclusively---adding semantic meaning _to_ the page rather than extract data _from_ it.

Enshrining this prefix in HTML could be a huge boon for cognitive accessibility and customization on the Web by hopefully guaranteeing much greater adoption.