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Accessibility is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions. Here's a random article about the upcoming EU regulations: https://www.siteimprove.com/glossary/eu-

• AlienRobot 3y ago
  As far as I know screen readers don't seem to differentiate between <em>, <strong>, <b> or <i>[1]. If the checker flags this despite there being no actual effects in the real world, it would really make me doubtful about its accuracy... >Mainstream screen readers currently treat B/I tags identically to STRONG/EM tags. That is, they are ignored unless a user specifies that they be indicated. Some users report that announcing changes can be distracting. [1] https://accessibility.psu.edu/boldfacehtml/#:~:text=tags.%20That%20is%2C-,they%20are%20ignored,-unless%20a%20user https://accessibility.psu.edu/boldfacehtml/#:~:text=tags.%20...
  • TomaszZielinski 3y ago
    That page also lists examples of semantic and visual uses of bold and italics, which sound pretty reasonable to me. As for it not being critical due to inconsistent screen reader support--it sounds like a chicken and egg problem. If developers don't use those tags consistently, then people using screen readers have hard time with them, and so screen readers adjust. In any case, if it doesn't hurt but can potentially help, I personally prefer to use semantic tags to convey the meaning and visual styles for pure visual effects.