The 6 most common mistakes developers when writing HTML and CSS

The placeholder attribute instead of the label element

Please, stop using the placeholder attribute instead of the label element. People that use screen readers can't fill in input fields because screen readers can't read the text from the placeholder attribute.

<input type="email" placeholder="Enter your email">

I recommend using the label element for a field name and the placeholder attribute for an example of data that users should fill in.

<label for="email">Enter your email</span>
<input id="email" type="email" placeholder="e.g. example@gmail.com">

The img element for decorative graphics

I often see developers confuse decorative graphics with content pictures. For example, they mark up social icons using the img element.

<a href="https://twitter.com" class="social">
  <img class="social__icon" src="twitter.svg" alt>
  <span class="social__name">Twitter</span>
</a>

But social icons are decorative icons that help users faster to understand the meaning of elements without reading text. If we remove icons we won't lose the meaning of elements. So the background-image property is the best way.

<a href="https://twitter.com" class="social">
  <span class="social__name">Twitter</span>
</a>

.social::before {
  background-image: url("twitter.svg");
}

resize: none

When you disable resizing textarea using resize: none you worsen accessibility. So the user can't comfortably enter data for himself.

textarea {
  width: 100%;
  height: 200px;
  resize: none;
}

You can use the min-width, max-width, min-height and max-height properties that to limit elements' sizes. Users can fill in input fields a comfortable way for himself.

textarea {
  min-width: 100%;
  max-width: 100%;
  min-height: 200px;
  max-height: 400px;
}

Using display: block with position: absolute or position: fixed

I often see the following code snippet:

.button::before {
  content: "";
  display: block;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
}

Here display: block isn't necessary because if position: absolute or position: fixed is used browsers set display: block by default. So the following code is a full alternative to the previous one.

.button::before {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
}

outline: none

I can't use websites using my keyboard. I can't go to a link. I can't register. That happens because developers disable focus on elements when they add outline: none.

.button:focus {
  outline: none;
}

/* or */

.button:focus {
  outline: 0;
}

If you need to disable default focus don't forget to make the alternate focus state.

.button:focus {
  outline: none;
  box-shadow: 0 0 3px 0 blue;
}

Empty elements

There is the practice of using empty HTML elements to style elements. For example, the hamburger markup using the empty div or span elements:

<button class="hamburger">
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
</button>

.hamburger {
  width: 60px;
  height: 45px;
  position: relative;
}

.hamburger span {
  width: 100%;
  height: 9px;

  background-color: #d3531a;
  border-radius: 9px;

  position: absolute;
  left: 0;
}

.hamburger span:nth-child(1) {
  top: 0;
}

.hamburger span:nth-child(2) {
  top: 18px;
}

.hamburger span:nth-child(3) {
  top: 36px;
}

But you can use the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements and achieve similar results.

<button class="hamburger">
  <span class="hamburger__text">
    <span class="visually-hidden">Open menu</span>
  </span>
</button>

.hamburger {
  width: 60px;
  height: 45px;
  position: relative;
}

.hamburger::before,
.hamburger::after,
.hamburger__text::before {
  content: "";
  width: 100%;
  height: 9px;

  background-color: #d3531a;
  border-radius: 9px;

  position: absolute;
  left: 0;
}

.hamburger::before {
  top: 0;
}

.hamburger::after {
  top: 18px;
}

.hamburger__text::before {
  top: 36px;
}

.visually-hidden {
  position: absolute !important;
  clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);
  width: 1px !important; 
  height: 1px !important; 
  overflow: hidden;
}

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