The aside Element

This element represents a part of the page that’s “tangentially related to the content around the aside element, and which could be considered separate from that content.”


The aside element could be used to wrap a portion of content that is tangential to:

■ a specific standalone piece of content (such as an article or section).■ an entire page or document, as is customarily done when adding a sidebar to a
page or website.

The aside element should never be used to wrap sections of the page that are part of the primary content; in other words, aside is not meant to be parenthetical. The aside content could stand on its own, but it should still be part of a larger whole. 

Some possible uses for aside include a sidebar, a secondary list of links, or a block of advertising. It should also be noted that the aside element (as in the case of header) is not defined by its position on the page. It could be on the side, or it could be elsewhere. It’s the content itself, and its relation to other elements, that defines it.