There is another big advantage of actually using all those HTML5 elements: If building a complex site, it will ease CSS markup a lot! You'll be able to reduce the use of classes and IDs, and build better context-dependent styles. And if you do so, see to it, that you use these elements in a semantically correct way.
The problem is that a lot of (frontend) web developer writes very poor HTML code.
- Semantic Web - Wikipedia
- HTML Dog - HTML Tags
- Let’s Talk about Semantics
- whatwg - HTML Living Standard
- MDN - HTML elements reference
- w3schools - HTML Semantic Elements
- freecodecamp - Semantic HTML5 Elements Explained
- html.com - What On Earth Is Semantic Markup?
- CSS Tricks articles tagged with semantics
- Structural Semantics: The Importance Of HTML5 Sectioning Elements
- When One Word Is More Meaningful Than A Thousand
*Microformats: What They Are and How To Use Them
Read the comments sections too for the following posts:
Our Pointless Pursuit Of Semantic Value Sexy New HTML5 Semantics
PLAYLIST A11ycasts with Rob Dodson
Why do semantics matter? Cool illustration here Accessibility tab in Chrome
GUI (Graphical User Interface) vs. accessibility tree
What is HTML5 Semantic Markup - Colt's Code Camp
- same markup with divs vs semantic elements
- screen reader demo