> HTML5 has semantic markups, we might need a few more.
Deprecating CSS will not encourage developers to use more semantic markup. In fact, it will have quite the opposite effect: coupling styling to the semantics will encourage developers to choose elements based on what they look like rather than what they mean.
Do you want more websites to be laid out with tables? Do you want more websites to use jpeg icons rather than accessible labels and pseudo-classes? Do you want website splash pages to be giant unresponsive images?
I think people underestimate how ridiculously hard it is to get developers to use semantic markup. Getting rid of CSS wouldn't cause devs to stop styling the web, they'd just do it worse.
> It makes more sense for users to be able to tweak looks as it works for them
That's... that's exactly what CSS was intended to do. That's why we have the cascade.
Yeah we've gotten away from that core of user control, and definitely browsers could be doing a better job on that front. But it's not like it's gone. I have custom CSS scripts for a variety of websites right now, including Youtube and Hackernews. As a user, CSS gives me more control over the web.
It sounds like what OP is really upset about is developers not using semantic markup. In which case, join the club. We've been fighting that battle on the web for years, and throughout that process CSS has been a valuable tool to help encourage developers to stop building fragile DOM layouts[0].
Let's also go bad to CLI only interfaces, since your points apply to operating systems too.
While I agree modern design trends often go for beauty before utility, and more often than not distracts from the actual content, it is no reason to go back to a more "pure" time. We just need to set new trends that will put content back in the foreground and use other design elements to augment more integral parts.
Deprecating CSS will not encourage developers to use more semantic markup. In fact, it will have quite the opposite effect: coupling styling to the semantics will encourage developers to choose elements based on what they look like rather than what they mean.
Do you want more websites to be laid out with tables? Do you want more websites to use jpeg icons rather than accessible labels and pseudo-classes? Do you want website splash pages to be giant unresponsive images?
I think people underestimate how ridiculously hard it is to get developers to use semantic markup. Getting rid of CSS wouldn't cause devs to stop styling the web, they'd just do it worse.
> It makes more sense for users to be able to tweak looks as it works for them
That's... that's exactly what CSS was intended to do. That's why we have the cascade.
Yeah we've gotten away from that core of user control, and definitely browsers could be doing a better job on that front. But it's not like it's gone. I have custom CSS scripts for a variety of websites right now, including Youtube and Hackernews. As a user, CSS gives me more control over the web.
It sounds like what OP is really upset about is developers not using semantic markup. In which case, join the club. We've been fighting that battle on the web for years, and throughout that process CSS has been a valuable tool to help encourage developers to stop building fragile DOM layouts[0].
[0]: http://www.csszengarden.com/