Question

AFAIK, there is no dedicated element–like <caption> for tables, <figcaption> for figures, etc.–to mark the header of a list. What markup should I use?

In HTML 3.0, there was an element <LH> but it is deprecated now.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla
eget enim nec metus feugiat porta.
Suspendisse convallis dictum
tincidunt. Vestibulum ante ipsum
primis in faucibus orci luctus et
ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi
vitae erat in nisl suscipit rutrum.

Fruits I love:

• Ananas

• Raspberry

• Banana

In in mauris vel diam eleifend
adipiscing. Proin id neque quam, eu
mattis ipsum. Nulla facilisi. Sed id
sapien eget mi cursus placerat vel sed
justo. Integer vel pellentesque magna.
Donec quis nisi lacus, accumsan
rhoncus leo. Quisque tempor metus
vitae nisl eleifend aliquet. Maecenas
adipiscing purus magna.

Answer 1

It looks like you want a HTML5 answer. If all your lists have header I would use a <dl> (now meaning description list) with a single <dt> header and the list items as <dd>‘s:

<dl>
    <dt>Fruits I love:</dt>
    <dd>Ananas</dd>
    <dd>Strawberry</dd>
</dl>

If you mix a lot of lists with/without headers I would stick with <ul>/<ol> and use normal <hX>‘s. Wrap the <hX> and the list in a <div> to preserve the semantics:

<div class="list">
    <h2>Fruits I love:</h2>
    <ul>
        <li>Ananas</li>
        <li>Strawberry</li>
    </ul>
</div>