Why can't I use <p>&nbsp;</p>?

Question

I can't find a convincing answer for this. Is it wrong in terms of semantic HTML? SEO unfriendly? Accessibility?

A lot of WYSIWYG editors use it. I think it is a good way to add some extra space between paragraphs, like you do when you're writing a document and want to express 'extra differentiation' between 2 specific paragraphs. Of course you can do that with CSS, but you need to add extra classes like so:

<p class="extra-space">
  Some text
</p>
<p>
  Other topic
</p>

I'm sure this is not a problem for screen readers. And semantics … why an 'empty paragraph' has not a valid meaning by itself?

Answer 1

It's because an empty paragraph is not a paragraph at all. A paragraph is defined as "A paragraph is a self-contained unit of a discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea." (by Wikipedia)

From a typographic point-of-view there are other elements that help seperating content in a more semantic way. If the next paragraph is so important you maybe want to add a heading in front of it.

You also violate the rules of seperating content and design. It's just not a good idea. Think of a blog you're writing. If you do something like that, you're typographic appearance may become totally inconsistent because sometimes you use 2 empty paragraphs, sometimes none. It's just not a good idea to mix content and appearance.

Answer 2

It is wrong in terms of semantics because these semantics define a way to properly "Talk" to the machine. Although it displays fine, it is can become an issue when you need some automated process.

To put it in another perspective, lets say you have a recipe, that works well when you tell it to someone. At some point you are writing down the recipe for an automated robot.

Instead of writing "Add ice cream in the blender" you are writing "Add I scream in the blender"

When you hear it, it is the same. When someone reads it, and can correct the mistake, is fine. What about when the robot reads it ?