Finalsite + AudioEye: Fix deprecated HTML tag flags

Misty Flowers

July 21, 2026 18:31

A practical guide for content editors: what AudioEye means when it flags deprecated HTML tags, why they appear on your pages, and how to find and remove them in Finalsite Composer.

💡Quick answers

What does AudioEye mean when it flags a deprecated tag? Your page contains HTML tags removed from the current web standard, such as , <center>,  (used for visual styling), , and <strike>. These were designed for visual presentation and have been replaced by CSS. Assistive technologies may handle them inconsistently.
How did they get there? Almost always from pasting content from Microsoft Word, Outlook, or another application. Those tools put HTML on the clipboard when you copy text, and some of that HTML uses deprecated tags. When you paste into Composer, the underlying code comes along with it.
How do I find them? Open the flagged page with /?oss=1 to identify the element, then open that element in Composer and use the HTML Source view to see the raw markup.
How do I fix them? Either remove the deprecated tags from the HTML source view directly, or re-paste the content as plain text to strip all formatting before re-applying clean styles in Composer.
How do I prevent them from coming back? Always paste from Word or Outlook using plain text paste (Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows, or paste into Notepad as an intermediate step) before re-applying formatting in Composer.

Why deprecated tags matter

HTML has a formal specification maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international standards body that defines how the web works. Over time, tags that were used to control visual presentation, like  for setting text color and size, or <center> for centering content, were removed from the specification when CSS became the right tool for the job. These are called deprecated tags.

Using them is not dangerous, but it creates inconsistency. Different browsers and assistive technologies may interpret them differently, ignore them, or produce unexpected output. For users who rely on screen readers, inconsistent rendering can mean missed or garbled content.

WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing) requires that HTML be free of structural errors that could confuse assistive technologies. Deprecated presentational tags fall under this concern.

Where they come from

In most cases, deprecated tags arrive through copied-and-pasted content. Microsoft Word, Outlook, Google Docs, and email clients all generate their own HTML when you copy text. That HTML often includes deprecated presentational tags, non-standard attributes, and Microsoft-specific markup that has no equivalent in the web standard.

When you paste this content into a Composer Content element, the editor accepts it. The page looks fine visually, but the underlying HTML is non-standard.

Common sources:

Newsletters or announcements written in Outlook and pasted directly into Composer
Board minutes or policy documents from Word
Announcements drafted in email and copied to the site
Old content originally written for a previous CMS that used different markup conventions

Step 1: Find the flagged element

Open the page your AudioEye report flagged and add /?oss=1 to the end of the URL. The AudioEye Accessibility Page Scanner highlights the element containing the deprecated tag and names the specific tag it found, for example, "Deprecated  element detected."

Note which element on the page is highlighted. You will need to find that element in Composer in the next step. If multiple elements are flagged, work through them one at a time.

Step 2: Open the HTML source view in Composer

In Composer, click on the Content element that contains the flagged text. In the element editor toolbar, find the Source button (labeled with angle brackets <> or a code icon) and click it to toggle into HTML source view.

You will see the raw HTML of the element. Deprecated tags live here; they may not be visible in the normal editing view, which renders them as styled text.

Common deprecated tags to look for

, used to set typeface, size, or color directly in HTML
<center>, used to center block content
, used for visual bold without semantic meaning (use  instead)
, used for visual italics without semantic meaning (use  instead)
, used for underline without semantic meaning
<strike> or <s>, used for strikethrough text
<tt>, used for teletype/monospaced text

For the complete list, see HTML Deprecated Tags on GeeksForGeeks.

Step 3: Remove or replace the deprecated tags

You have two options depending on how widespread the tags are.

Option A: Edit the HTML source directly

In the HTML source view, find the deprecated tag and either remove it or replace it with the correct semantic equivalent.

Replace  with  for text that is genuinely important
Replace  with  for text that conveys emphasis in meaning
Remove  tags and their closing tags; re-apply color or size using the Composer toolbar after switching back to visual editing view
Remove <center> tags and their closing tags; use the alignment controls in the Composer toolbar instead

Option B: Re-paste as plain text

If the deprecated tags are widespread throughout the element, the cleanest fix is to strip everything and start fresh.

Copy the visible text out of the Content element (from the normal editing view, not the source view).
Paste it into Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit in plain text mode (Mac) to strip all formatting.
Copy the plain text from Notepad.
Return to the Composer Content element, select all existing content, and delete it.
Paste the plain text into the element.
Re-apply formatting (headings, bold, lists, links) using the Composer toolbar.

This takes more time but results in completely clean HTML with no residual formatting artifacts.

Step 4: Verify the fix

Save the Content element and publish the page.
Reload the page with /?oss=1 on the end of the URL.
Confirm the scanner no longer flags the element.
The AudioEye report runs on a rolling 7-day window. The live scan confirms your fix immediately; the main report takes about a week to update.

Preventing deprecated tags from coming back

The simplest prevention is changing the paste habit. Before pasting content from Word, Outlook, or any external application into Composer:

On Windows: paste with Ctrl+Shift+V to paste as plain text, or paste into Notepad first and copy from there.
On Mac: paste with Cmd+Shift+V in some apps, or use TextEdit in plain text mode as an intermediate step.
Alternatively, draft content directly in Composer rather than in Word or Outlook to avoid the problem entirely.

Paste as plain text

If deprecated tags appear consistently across many pages, it likely indicates a team-wide habit of pasting from Word. A note in your editorial guidelines, "always paste as plain text when copying from Word or email," can prevent a significant source of ongoing accessibility flags across your site.

Still stuck?

If the scanner flags a deprecated tag on an element you cannot directly edit, such as a locked template section or a shared block, email accessibility@finalsite.com with the page URL and the element name. If the same flag appears across many pages simultaneously, it is likely a template-level issue rather than one an editor introduced.