How to semantically provide a caption, title or label for a list in HTML

Question

What is the proper way to provide a semantic caption for an HTML list? For example, the following list has a "title"/"caption".

Fruit

• Apple
• Pear
• Orange

How should the word "fruit" be handled, in a such way that it is semantically associated with the list itself?

Answer 1

While there is no caption or heading element structuring your markup effectively can have the same effect. Here are some suggestions:

Nested List

<ul>
    <li>
        Fruit
        <ul>
            <li>Apple</li>
            <li>Pear</li>
            <li>Organge</li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

---

Heading Prior to List

<hX>Fruit</hX>
<ul>
    <li>Apple</li>
    <li>Pear</li>
    <li>Orange</li>
</ul>

---

Definition List

<dl>
  <dt>Fruit</dt>
  <dd>Apple</dd>
  <dd>Pear</dd>
  <dd>Orange</dd>
</dl>