Is the current definition of the article element in HTML useful?

Hi all,

I think the definition of the article element in HTML [1] is overly
vague and broad, which leads to intended and unintended use that
undermines its usefulness as a semantic construct for users that
actually consume its semantics such as screen reader users.

For example, the spec promotes the use of article as a container of,
well, an article and also for each instance of a comment on an article
(example: [2]).
Yet there is no defined method of exposing the semantic differences
between an article in the common understanding of the term and when
used as defined in the broader HTML definition.

I suggest that the authoring advice and requirments in regards to the
article element need to be reviewed and perhaps modified in light of
usage data [4], how the semantics are exposed and conveyed in user
agents, issues articulated in articles and blog posts (example: [3])
on how to use it and feedback from users and developers.



[1]http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/sections.html#the-article-element
[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/07/tories-laughing-again-deborah-orr
[3] http://html5doctor.com/designing-a-blog-with-html5/
[4] http://www.html5accessibility.com/HTML5data/article/
-- 
with regards

Steve Faulkner