W3 HTML5 Reference 2016-10-19

HTML5Reference
TheSyntax,VocabularyandAPIsofHTML5
W3CEditorsDraft9August2010
Thisversion:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2010/EDhtml5author20100809
Latestversion:
http://www.w3.org/TR/
Previousversion:
Nopreviousversions.
Editors:
LachlanHunt(OperaSoftwareASA)lachlan.hunt@lachy.id.au
[Copyrightlicencepending]
Abstract
Thisdocumentexplainsthesyntax,vocabularyandtheavailableAPIsforHTML5documents,focussingonsimplicityandpractical
applicationsforbeginnerswhilealsoprovidingindepthinformationformoreadvancedwebdevelopers.Thisdocumentis
complimentarytotheHTML5Guide.
Statusofthisdocument
Thissectiondescribesthestatusofthisdocumentatthetimeofitspublication.Otherdocumentsmaysupersedethisdocument.A
listofcurrentW3CpublicationsandthelatestrevisionofthistechnicalreportcanbefoundintheW3Ctechnicalreportsindexat
http://www.w3.org/TR/.
ThisdocumentisanEditorsDraftoftheHTML5ReferenceproducedbytheHTMLWorkingGroup,partoftheHTMLActivity.The
workinggroupisworkingonHTML5(seetheHTML5Editorsdraft).Theappropriateforumforcommentsonthisdocumentis
publichtmlcomments@w3.org(publicarchive)orpublichtml@w3.org(publicarchive).
PublicationasaWorkingGroupNotedoesnotimplyendorsementbytheW3CMembership.Thisisadraftdocumentandmaybe
updated,replacedorobsoletedbyotherdocumentsatanytime.Itisinappropriatetocitethisdocumentasotherthanworkin
progress.
Thisdocumentwasproducedbyagroupoperatingunderthe5February2004W3CPatentPolicy.W3Cmaintainsapubliclistof
anypatentdisclosuresmadeinconnectionwiththedeliverablesofthegroupthatpagealsoincludesinstructionsfordisclosinga
patent.AnindividualwhohasactualknowledgeofapatentwhichtheindividualbelievescontainsEssentialClaim(s)mustdisclose
theinformationinaccordancewithsection6oftheW3CPatentPolicy.
Tableofcontents
1Introduction
2BasicTemplates
3TheHTMLandXHTMLSyntax
3.1SyntacticOverview
3.2TheSyntax
3.2.1DOCTYPEDeclaration
3.2.1.1ObsoleteButPermittedDOCTYPEs
3.2.1.2HTMLandXHTMLComparison
3.2.1.3HistoricalNotes
3.2.2Elements
3.2.2.1Tags
3.2.2.2VoidElements
3.2.2.3RawTextElements
3.2.2.4RCDATAElements
3.2.2.5ForeignElements
3.2.2.6NormalElements
3.2.2.7ElementTypeComparision
3.2.3Attributes
3.2.3.1EmptyAttributeSyntax
3.2.3.2UnquotedAttributeValueSyntax
3.2.3.3DoubleQuotedAttributeValueSyntax
3.2.3.4SingleQuotedAttributeValueSyntax
3.2.4Comments
3.2.5Text
3.2.6CDATASections
3.2.7CharacterReferences
3.3UnderstandingMIMETypes
3.4CharacterEncoding
3.5ChoosingHTMLorXHTML
3.6PolyglotDocuments
4TheHTMLVocabularyandAPIs
4.1Categories
4.1.1MetadataContent
4.1.2Flowcontent
4.1.3Sectioningroot
4.1.4Sectioningcontent
4.1.5Headingcontent
4.1.6Phrasingcontent
4.1.7Embeddedcontent
4.1.8Interactivecontent
4.1.9TransparentContentModels
4.2GlobalAttributes
4.3TheElements
4.3.1TheRootElement
4.3.1.1Thehtmlelement
4.3.2DocumentMetadata
4.3.2.1Theheadelement
4.3.2.2Thetitleelement
4.3.2.3Thebaseelement
4.3.2.4Thelinkelement
4.3.2.5Themetaelement
4.3.2.6Thestyleelement
4.3.3Scripting
4.3.3.1Thescriptelement
4.3.3.2Thenoscriptelement
4.3.4Sections
4.3.4.1Thebodyelement
4.3.4.2Thesectionelement
4.3.4.3Thenavelement
4.3.4.4Thearticleelement
4.3.4.5Theasideelement
4.3.4.6Theh1,h2,h3,h4,h5,andh6elements
4.3.4.7Theheaderelement
4.3.4.8Thefooterelement
4.3.4.9Theaddresselement
4.3.4.10HeadingsandSections
4.3.5GroupingContent
4.3.5.1Thepelement
4.3.5.2Thehrelement
4.3.5.3Thebrelement
4.3.5.4Thepreelement
4.3.5.5Thedialogelement
4.3.5.6Theblockquoteelement
4.3.5.7Theolelement
4.3.5.8Theulelement
4.3.5.9Thelielement
4.3.5.10Thedlelement
4.3.5.11Thedtelement
4.3.5.12Theddelement
4.3.6TextLevelSemantics
4.3.6.1Theaelement
4.3.6.2Theqelement
4.3.6.3Theciteelement
4.3.6.4Theemelement
4.3.6.5Thestrongelement
4.3.6.6Thesmallelement
4.3.6.7Themarkelement
4.3.6.8Thedfnelement
4.3.6.9Theabbrelement
4.3.6.10Thetimeelement
4.3.6.11Theprogresselement
4.3.6.12Themeterelement
4.3.6.13Thecodeelement
4.3.6.14Thevarelement
4.3.6.15Thesampelement
4.3.6.16Thekbdelement
4.3.6.17Thesubandsupelements
4.3.6.18Thespanelement
4.3.6.19Theielement
4.3.6.20Thebelement
4.3.6.21Thebdoelement
4.3.6.22Therubyelement
4.3.6.23Thertelement
4.3.6.24Therpelement
4.3.7Edits
4.3.7.1Theinselement
4.3.7.2Thedelelement
4.3.8EmbeddedContent
4.3.8.1Thefigureelement
4.3.8.2Theimgelement
4.3.8.3Theiframeelement
4.3.8.4Theembedelement
4.3.8.5Theobjectelement
4.3.8.6Theparamelement
4.3.8.7Thevideoelement
4.3.8.8Theaudioelement
4.3.8.9Thesourceelement
4.3.8.10Thecanvaselement
4.3.8.11Themapelement
4.3.8.12Theareaelement
4.3.9TabularData
4.3.9.1Thetableelement
4.3.9.2Thecaptionelement
4.3.9.3Thecolgroupelement
4.3.9.4Thecolelement
4.3.9.5Thetbodyelement
4.3.9.6Thetheadelement
4.3.9.7Thetfootelement
4.3.9.8Thetrelement
4.3.9.9Thetdelement
4.3.9.10Thethelement
4.3.10Forms
4.3.10.1Theformelement
4.3.10.2Thefieldsetelement
4.3.10.3Thelabelelement
4.3.10.4Theinputelement
4.3.10.5Thebuttonelement
4.3.10.6Theselectelement
4.3.10.7Thedatalistelement
4.3.10.8Theoptgroupelement
4.3.10.9Theoptionelement
4.3.10.10Thetextareaelement
4.3.10.11Theoutputelement
4.3.11InteractiveElements
4.3.11.1Thedetailselement
4.3.11.2Thecommandelement
4.3.11.3Thebbelement
4.3.11.4Themenuelement
4.3.12MiscellaneousElements
4.3.12.1Thelegendelement
4.3.12.2Thedivelement
4.4Microdata
5IndexofElements
5.1ConformingElements
5.2ObsoleteElements
5.3ComparisonofHTML4.01andHTML5Elements
6HowtoReadThisGuide
6.1Conventions
6.1.1Notes,TipsandWarnings
6.1.2ExampleMarkup
6.1.2.1Attributes
6.1.2.2VoidElements
6.1.2.3Namespaces
1Introduction
ThisdocumentservesasareferencefortheHTMLsyntax,vocabularyanditsassociatedDOMAPIsandisintendedforwebsite
andapplicationdevelopers,publishers,tutorialwritersandteachersandtheirstudents.Thatis,peoplewhowritedocumentsusing
HTML,orwhoteachotherstodoso.
Thisguideisstructuredintothreemajorsections.Thefirstprovidesasetofbasictemplatesforauthorstogetstartedwith.
ThesecondsectionprovidesanindepthlookatthesyntaxofHTMLandXHTMLdocuments.Thiswillinvestigateboththe
similaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthetwoalternativesandprovidesguidanceonchoosingwhichtouseforyourownprojects,
dependingonyourneeds.Additionally,thiswillalsoprovidedetailsaboutcreatingpolyglotdocumentsthatis,documentsthat
conformtobothHTMLandXHTMLsimultaneiouslyincludingissuesrelatedtoensuringstylesheetsandscriptsworkcorrectly
underbothconditions.
ThethirdandfinalsectionprovidesareferencefortheHTMLvocabulary.Eachelementisdescribed,providingdetailsaboutitsits
meaning,allowedattributes,contentmodelsandDOMAPIs.Eachisaccompaniedbyclearexamplesillustratinghowtheelementis
designedtobeusedforarangeofdifferentusecases.
2BasicTemplates
Thefollowingbasictemplatesaredesignedtobeusedasstartingpointsforthedocumentsyoucreate.Severalalternativesare
provided,allowingindividualstochoosethetemplatethatismostappropriatefortheirneeds.
Simple:HTML:
Themostbasictemplaterecommendedformostauthors.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<html>
<head>
<metacharset="UTF8">
<title>HTMLTemplate</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Insertcontenthere.</p>
</body>
</html>
Intermediate:HTMLandXHTMLPolyglot:
Templatesuitableforintermediateauthorswhoareproducingdocumentsadheringtothepolyglotmarkupconventions.Whilethistemplateissafefor
beginnerstouse,itisonlyrecommendedforauthorsfamiliarwiththetechniquesforcreatingpolyglotdocuments.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<htmlxmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<metacharset="UTF8"/>
<title>Polyglot(X)HTMLTemplate</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Advanced:XHTML:
TemplatesuitableforadvancedauthorswhoareproducingXHTMLdocuments.ThistemplateisnotsuitableforuseasHTMLbecauseitlacksthe
DOCTYPEanddoesnotdeclarethecharacterencoding.AuthorsusingthistemplateshouldbeusingUTF8orUTF16,orshouldatleastbeawareofhow
todeclarethecorrectencodingforXML.
<head>
<title>XHTMLTemplate</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Advanced:MinimalHTML:
TemplatesuitableforadvancedauthorswhoareproducingHTMLdocuments.Thistemplatetakesadvantageoftheabilitytoomitcertaintagsforsome
elements.Authorswhoarenotfamiliarwith,orareuncomfortablewith,thesefeaturesshouldavoidthistemplate.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<metacharset="UTF8">
<title>MinimalHTMLTemplate</title>
3TheHTMLandXHTMLSyntax
ItisusefultomakeadistinctionbetweenthevocabularyofanHTMLdocumenttheelementsandattributes,andtheirmeanings
andthesyntaxinwhichitiswritten.
HTMLhasadefinedsetofelementsandattributeswhichcanbeusedinadocumenteachdesignedforaspecificpurposewith
theirownmeaning.Considerthissetofelementstobeanalogoustothelistofwordsinadictionary.Thisincludeselementsfor
headings,paragraphs,lists,tables,links,formcontrolsandmanyotherfeatures.ThisisthevocabularyofHTML.Similarly,justas
naturallanguageshavegrammaticalrulesforhowdifferentwordscanbeused,HTMLhasrulesforwhereandhoweachelement
andattributecanbeused.
ThebasicstructureofelementsinanHTMLdocumentisatreestructure.Mostelementshaveatmostoneparentelement,(except
fortherootelement),andmayhaveanynumberofchildelements.Thisstructureneedstobereflectedinthesyntaxusedtowrite
thedocument.
3.1SyntacticOverview
Therearetwosyntaxesthatcanbeused:thetraditionalHTMLsyntax,andtheXHTMLsyntax.Whilethesearesimilar,eachis
optimisedfordifferentneedsandauthoringhabits.Theformerismorelenientinitsdesignandhandlingrequirements,andhasa
numberofconvenientshorthandsforauthorstouse.ThelatterisbasedonXMLandhasmuchstrictersyntacticrequirements,
designedtodiscouragetheproliferationofsyntacticerrors.
TheHTMLsyntaxislooselybasedupontheolder,thoughverywidelyusedsyntaxfromHTML4.01.Althoughitisinspiredbyits
SGMLorigins,inpractice,itreallyonlysharesminorsyntacticsimilarities.Thisfeaturesarangeofshorthandsyntaxes,designedto
makehandcodingmoreconvenient,suchasallowingtheomissionofsomeoptionaltagsandattributevalues.Authorsarefreeto
choosewhetherornottheywishtotakeadvantageoftheseshorthandfeaturesbasedupontheirownpersonalpreferences.
HTMLExample:
AbasicHTMLdocument,demonstratingsomeshorthandsyntax.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<html>
<head>
<title>AnHTMLDocument</title>
</head>
<bodyclass=example>
<h1>Example</h1>
<p>ThisisanexampleHTMLdocument.
</body>
</html>
XHTML,however,isbasedonthemuchmorestrictXMLsyntax.WhilethistooisinspiredbySGML,thissyntaxrequiresdocuments
tobewellformed,whichsomepeoplepreferbecauseofitsstrictererrorhandling,forcingauthorstomaintaincleanermarkup.
XHTMLExample:
AbasicXHTMLdocument,demonstratingthestricterXMLsyntax.
<head>
<title>AnHTMLDocument</title>
</head>
<bodyclass="example">
<h1>Example</h1>
<p>ThisisanexampleHTMLdocument.</p>
</body>
</html>
Note:TheXHTMLdocumentdoesnotneedtoincludetheDOCTYPEbecauseXHTMLdocumentsthataredeliveredcorrectlyusing
anXMLMIMEtypeandareprocessedasXMLbybrowsers,arealwaysrenderedinnoquirksmode.However,theDOCTYPEmay
optionallybeincluded,andshouldbeincludedifthedocumentusesthecompatiblesubsetofmarkupthatisconforminginboth
HTMLandXHTML,andiseverexpectedtobeusedintext/htmlenvironments.
DuetothesimilaritiesofboththeHTMLandXHTMLsyntaxes,itispossibletomarkupdocumentsusingacommonsubsetofthe
syntaxthatisthesameinboth,whileavoidingthesyntacticfeaturesthatareuniquetoeach.Thistypeofdocumentissaidtouse
polyglotmarkup,oftensimplyreferredtoasapolyglotdocument,becauseitsimultaneouslyconformstobothsyntaxesandmaybe
treatedaseither.Thereareanumberofissuesinvolvedwithcreatingsuchdocumentsandauthorswishingtodososhould
familiarisethemselveswiththesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenHTMLandXHTML.
3.2TheSyntax
ThereareanumberofbasiccomponentsmakeupthesyntaxofHTML,thatareusedthroughoutanydocument.Theseincludethe
DOCTYPEdeclaration,elements,attributes,comments,textandCDATAsections.
3.2.1DOCTYPEDeclaration
TheDocumentTypeDeclarationneedstobepresentatthebeginningofadocumentthatusestheHTMLsyntax.Itmayoptionally
beusedwithintheXHTMLsyntax,butitisnotrequired.ThefollowingDOCTYPEisstronglyrecommendedformostHTML
documents:
Example:
TheHTML5DOCTYPEdeclaration.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
ForcompatibilitywithlegacyproducersofHTMLthatis,softwarethatoutputsHTMLdocumentsanalternativelegacy
compatibilityDOCTYPEisavailable.ThisisrecommendedforusebysystemsthatareunabletooutputtheDOCTYPEgivenabove.
ThislimitationoccursinsoftwarethatexpectsaDOCTYPEtoincludeeitheraPUBLICorSYSTEMidentifier,andisunabletoomitthem.
ThecanonicalformofthisDOCTYPEisasfollows:
Example:
TheHTML5legacycompatibilityDOCTYPEdeclaration.
<!DOCTYPEhtmlSYSTEM"about:legacycompat">
PublicIdentifier
HTML
XHTML
SystemIdentifier
Note:Theterm"legacycompat"referstocompatibilitywithlegacyproducersonly.Inparticular,itdoesnotrefertocompatibilitywith
legacybrowsers,which,inpractice,ignoreSYSTEMidentifiersandDTDs.
InHTML,theDOCTYPEiscaseinsensitive,exceptforthequotedstring"about:legacycompat",whichmustbewritteninlowercase.
Thisquotedstring,however,mayalsobequotedwithsinglequotes,ratherthandoublequotes.Thehighlightedfragmentsbelow
illustratewhichpartsarecaseinsensitiveinHTML.
Example:
ThethreeconformingvariantsoftheHTML5DOCTYPEdeclarations,indicatingcaseinsensitivityintheHTMLsyntax.
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<!DOCTYPEhtmlSYSTEM"about:legacycompat">
<!DOCTYPEhtmlSYSTEM'about:legacycompat'>
ForXHTML,theDOCTYPEmaybeomittedbecauseitisunnecessary.IfyouchoosetouseaDOCTYPE,thenthecanonicalcase
sensitiveversionsoftheaboveDOCTYPEsarerecommended.Buttherearenorestrictionsplacedontheuseofalternative
DOCTYPEs.Youmay,ifyouwish,useacustomDOCTYPEreferringtoacustomDTD,typicallyforvalidationpurposes.Although,
beadvisedthatDTDshaveanumberoflimitationscomparedwithotheralternativeschemalanguagesandvalidationtechniques.
3.2.1.1ObsoleteButPermittedDOCTYPEs
InordertoeasethethetransitionalprocessfrompreviouseditionsofHTML,selectedlegacyDOCTYPEsaregrandfatheredintothe
HTMLsyntaxasconforming,buttheyareconsideredobsolete.ThisdoesnotapplytoXHTML.
Warning:WhenusingtheseDOCTYPEs,somevalidatorsmayapplyconformancerequirementsfromolderspecifications,insteadof
therequirementsofHTML5.HTML5conformancecheckersarerequiredtoissueawarningifoneispresent.Authorsarestrongly
discouragedfromusingtheseDOCTYPEs.
ForthepermittedDOCTYPEsusingonlyapublicidentifier,thesyntaxisasfollows.Thehighlightedfragmentsindicatecase
insensitivityintheHTMLsyntax.
HTMLExample:
TheobsoletebutpermittedHTML4.01StrictDOCTYPEwithonlythepublicidentifier.
<!DOCTYPEhtmlPUBLIC"//W3C//DTDHTML4.01//EN">
ForthepermittedDOCTYPEsthatalsohaveasystemidentifier,thesyntaxis:
HTMLExample:
TheobsoletebutpermittedHTML4.01StrictDOCTYPEwithboththepublicandsystemidentifiers.
<!DOCTYPEhtmlPUBLIC"//W3C//DTDHTML4.01//EN"
SYSTEM"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
Inadditiontothose,thefollowingpublicandsystemidentifiersinthetablebelowmaybesubstitutedaccordingly.
AllowedvaluesforpublicandsystemidentifiersinanobsoletepermittedDOCTYPEstring.
PublicIdentifier
SystemIdentifier
//W3C//DTDHTML4.0//EN
http://www.w3.org/TR/REChtml40/strict.dtd
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd
//W3C//DTDXHTML1.0Strict//EN
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1strict.dtd
//W3C//DTDXHTML1.1//EN
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd
DOCTYPE
DOCTYPEkeyword
ComparisonoftheDOCTYPEsyntaxrequirementsbetweenHTMLandXHTML
HTML
XHTML
Required
Optional
Caseinsensitive
Caseinsensitive
Casesensitive
Casesensitive
PublicIdentifier
Caseinsensitive
Caseinsensitive
Optional
Casesensitive
Casesensitive
Optional
SystemIdentifier
Optional
Optional,butrequiredifpublicidentifierispresent
htmlkeyword
PUBLICkeyword
SYSTEMkeyword
LegacyCompatibility
DOCTYPE
OtherDOCTYPEs
Allowed
HTML
Obsoletebutpermitted
DOCTYPElist
Allowed
XHTML
AnyXMLcompliantDOCTYPE(excludesHTML4.01andearlier
DOCTYPEs)
3.2.1.3HistoricalNotes
Thissectionneedsrevisingandmaybemovedtoanexternaldocumentandsimplyreferredto.
TheDOCTYPEoriginatesfromHTMLsSGMLlineageand,inpreviouslevelsofHTML,wasoriginallyusedtorefertoaDocument
TypeDefinition(DTD)aformaldeclarationoftheelements,attributesandsyntacticfeaturesthatcouldbeusedwithinthe
document.ThosewhoarefamiliarwithpreviouslevelsofHTMLwillnoticethatthereisnoPUBLICidentifierpresentinthis
DOCTYPE,whichwereusedtorefertotheDTD.Also,notethattheabout:URIschemeintheSYSTEMidentifierofthelatter
DOCTYPEisusedspecificallybecauseitcannotberesolvedtoanyspecificDTD.
AsHTML5isnolongerformallybaseduponSGML,theDOCTYPEnolongerservesthispurpose,andthusnolongerneedstorefer
toaDTD.However,duetolegacyconstraints,ithasgainedanotherveryimportantpurpose:triggeringnoquirksmodeinbrowsers.
HTML5definesthreemodes:quirksmode,limitedquirksmodeandnoquirksmode,ofwhichonlythelatterisconsidered
conformingtouse.Thereasonforthisisduetobackwardscompatibility.Theimportantthingtounderstandisthattherearesome
differencesinthewaydocumentsarevisuallyrenderedineachofthemodesandtoensurethemoststandardscompliant
rendering,itisimportanttoensurenoquirksmodeisused.
3.2.2Elements
Therearefivedifferentkindsofelements:normal,void,rawtext,RCDATAandforeignelements.Eachisrepresentedsyntactically
byatag.Whilethetypeshavesomesimilaritiestoeachother,theyaredistinguishedbytheirsyntacticrequirementsfortheircontent
modelsandthetypesoftagsthatmaybeused.
3.2.2.1Tags
Allelementsareidentifiedbytheirtagnameandaremarkedupusingeitherstarttagsandendtagsorselfclosingtags.Astarttag
marksthebeginningofanelement,whileanendtagmarkstheend.Starttagsaredelimitedusinganglebracketswiththetagname
andanyattributesinbetween.Endtagsaredelimitedbyanglebracketswithaslashbeforethetagname.
Example:
Themarkupforthestartandendtagsofthepelement.
<p>Thequickbrownfoxjumpsoverthelazydog.</p>
ASelfclosingtagisaspecialformofstarttagwithaslashimmediatelybeforetheclosingrightanglebracket.Theseindicatethat
theelementistobeclosedimmediately,andhasnocontent.Wherethissyntaxispermittedandused,theendtagmustbeomitted.
InHTML,theuseofthissyntaxisrestrictedtovoidelementsandforeignelements.Ifitisusedforotherelements,itistreatedasa
starttag.InXHTML,itispossibleforanyelementtousethissyntax.Butnotethatitisonlyconformingforelementswithcontent
modelsthatpermitthemtobeempty.
Example:
Abrelementusingtheselfclosingtagsyntax.
<p>Thequickbrownfox<br/>
jumpsoverthelazydog.</p>
InHTML,tagnamesarecaseinsensitive.Itisconventionaltousetheircanonicalcase,butthisisnotrequired.Forexample,they
couldbewritteninalluppercaseormixedcase,dependingonyourownpreferences.
HTMLExample:
UppercasetagnamesarepermittedintheHTMLsyntax.
<DIV>...</DIV>
InXHTML,tagnamesarecasesensitiveandmustbewrittenintheircanonicalcase.Ingeneral,thecanonicalcaseislowercasefor
HTMLandMathMLelements,andcamelcaseforSVG.Refertothedefinitionofeachelementifindoubt.
InbothHTMLandXHTML,withineachtag,whitespaceispermittedafterthetagname,butitisnotpermittedbeforethetagname.
Someauthorschoosetoincludeaspacebeforetheslashintheselfclosingtag.Thispracticeisbaseduponaconventionthat
originatedwithinthecompatibilityguidelinesinXHTML1.0,AppendixC.However,adherencetothisconventionisunnecessary.
Thepermittedsyntaxofeachelementanditscontentmodelvariesbasedonthetypeofelement.Thetermemptyelementisused
todescribeanelementthatcontainsnocontent.Elementsofanytypecanbeempty,dependingontheircontentmodel.Depending
onthetype,thesearerepresentedeitherbyastarttagthatisimmediatelyclosed,eitherimplicitlyorbythepresenceofanendtag,
orbyusingtheselfclosingtagsyntax.
Example:
Anemptyspanelement.
<span></span>
3.2.2.2VoidElements
Thetermvoidelementsisusedtodesignateelementsthatmustbeempty.TheserequirementsonlyapplytotheHTMLsyntax.In
XHTML,allsuchelementsaretreatedasnormalelements,butmustbemarkedupasemptyelements.
Theseelementsareforbiddenfromcontaininganycontentatall.InHTML,theseelementshaveastarttagonly.Theselfclosingtag
syntaxmaybeused.Theendtagmustbeomittedbecausetheelementisautomaticallyclosedbytheparser.
HTMLExample:
AvoidelementintheHTMLsyntax.ThisisnotpermittedintheXHTMLsyntax.
<hr>
Example:
AvoidelementusingtheHTMLandXHTMLcompatibleselfclosingtagsyntax.
<hr/>
XHTMLExample:
AvoidelementusingtheXHTMLonlysyntaxwithanexplicitendtag.ThisisnotpermittedforvoidelementsintheHTMLsyntax.
<hr></hr>
Suchelementsinclude,amongothers,br,hr,linkandmeta.
3.2.2.3RawTextElements
Thetermrawtextelementsreferstoelementswithinwhichthecontentistreatedasrawtextinsteadofmarkup.These
requirementsonlyapplytotheHTMLsyntax.InXHTML,allsuchelementsaretreatedasnormalelements.
Theserequireastarttagandanendtag.Neithertheselfclosingtagsyntax,noroptionaltagsaresupported.
Theseelementscanonlycontainrawtext.Thismeansthatothercontentlikecomments,characterreferencesandotherelements
cannotberepresentedintheHTMLsyntax.Thatis,themarkupforsuchconstructsistreatedastextinsteadofmarkup.All
occurrencesofspecialcharactersdonotneedtobeescapedascharacterreferences,astheyotherwisewouldwithinnormal
elements.
HTMLExample:
Ascriptelementcontainingsomefunctions.SpecialcharactersdonotneedtobeescapedusingcharacterreferencesoraCDATAsection.
<script>
functionisLeap(year){
returnyear%4==0&&year%100!=0||year%400==0;
}
functioncompare(a,b){
if(a<b)
return1;
elseif(a>b)
return1;
return0;
}
</script>
Thereis,however,oneadditionalrestrictionthatthetextcannotcontainastringthatlooksliketheelement'sendtag.Specifically,a
stringthatmatchesthepatternof"</"followedbyacaseinsensitivematchfortheelement'stagname,followedbyeither"/",">",or
whitespace.
ExampleError:
Ascriptelementcannotcontainastringthatisindistinguishablefromtheendtag.
<script>
if(condition){
document.write("<scriptsrc=\"example.js\"></script>");
}
</script>
Inthepreviousexample,anHTMLconformancecheckerwouldreporttheerrorasrelatingtothesecondendtag,believingthatthe
firstisinfacttheendtag.Caremustbetakentoensuresuchstringsdonotoccurwithinthescript.
HTMLExample:
Thejavascriptcanbemodifiedbyescapingtheslash,toworkaroundtheHTMLsyntaxerror.
<script>
if(condition){
document.write("<scriptsrc=\"example.js\"><\/script>");
}
</script>
InXHTML,becausesuchelementsaretreatedasnormalelements,markuplikecomments,characterreferencesandother
elementscanberepresented.Itisthereforenecessarytoescapeallspecialcharactersusingeithercharacterreferencesorby
enclosingthecontentwithinaCDATAsection.
XHTMLExample:
SpecialcharacterswithinascriptelementmaybeescapedusingcharacterreferencesintheXHTMLsyntax.
<script>
}
if(a<b)
return1;
elseif(a>b)
return1;
return0;
}
</script>
XHTMLExample:
SpecialcharacterswithinascriptelementmaybeescapedusingaCDATAsectionintheXHTMLsyntax.
<script><![CDATA[
}
if(a<b)
return1;
elseif(a>b)
return1;
return0;
}
]]></script>
TheabovedoesnotworkinHTMLbecausethestrings"<![CDATA["and"]]>"aretreatedastextinsteadofmarkup.However,by
takingadvantageofthescriptinglanguage'scommentsyntax,thosestringscanbecommentedsothattheyareignoredbythe
scriptinHTML,butstillprocessedasmarkupinXHTML.ThisprovidesuswithananHTMLandXHTMLcompatiblesyntaxfor
scripts.
Example:
TheHTMLandXHTMLcompatiblesyntaxforincludingjavascript.
<script>//<![CDATA[
}
if(a<b)
return1;
elseif(a>b)
return1;
return0;
}
//]]></script>
3.2.2.4RCDATAElements
ThetermRCDATAelementsreferstoelementswithinwhichcharacterreferencesaresupported,butallothercontentistreatedas
rawtextinsteadofmarkup.TheserequirementsonlyapplytotheHTMLsyntax.InXHTML,allsuchelementsaretreatedasnormal
elements.
Theserequireastarttagandanendtag.Neithertheselfclosingtagsyntax,noroptionaltagsaresupported.
Theseelementscanonlycontaintextorcharacterreferences.Thismeansthatonlycharacterreferencesaretreatedasmarkup,
whereasallothercontentlikecommentsandotherelementscannotberepresentedintheHTMLsyntax.Thatis,themarkupfor
suchconstructsistreatedastext.
Occurrencesofspecialcharactersmay,butgenerallydonotneedtobeescapedascharacterreferences,astheyotherwisewould
withinnormalelements.Butthisissubjecttotheadditionalrestrictionthatthetextcannotincludeanambiguousampersand.Thatis,
anampersandfollowedasequenceofcharactersthatlookslikeanamedcharacterreference,butwhichisnotvalid.
HTMLExample:
Atextareaelementcancontaintextandcharacterreferences.
<textarea>
Thiscancontaincharacterreferenceslike&,<and>,
butsuchcharactersandalsobewrittendirectlyas&,<and>.
Stringsthatlooklike<!comments>orotherelements<span>
aretreatedasplaintext,insteadofmarkup.
</textarea>
ExampleError:
Anambiguousampersandcannotoccurwithinatextareaelement.
<textarea>
Anunknownnamedcharacterreferencelike&this
givesanambiguousampersanderror.
</textarea>
Anotheradditionalrestrictionthatthetextcannotcontainastringthatlooksliketheelement'sendtag.Specifically,astringthat
matchesthepatternof"</"followedbyacaseinsensitivematchfortheelement'stagname,followedbyeither"/",">",or
whitespace.
ExampleError:
Atextareaelementcannotcontainastringthatisindistinguishablefromtheendtag.
<textarea>
Thistextcannotcontainastringlike</textareabecause
itlookslikeanendtagfortheelement.
</textarea>
InXHTML,becausesuchelementsaretreatedasnormalelements,markuplikecommentsandotherelementscanalsobe
represented.Itisthereforenecessarytoescapeallspecialcharactersusingeithercharacterreferencesorbyenclosingthecontent
withinaCDATAsection.
XHTMLExample:
AtextareaelementcancontaintextandcharacterreferencesandcommentsintheXHTMLsyntax.
<textarea>
Thiscancontaincharacterreferenceslike&,<and>.
UnliketheHTMLsyntax,thiscanalsocontaincomments.
<!justlikeothernormalelements>
Ifthestringisintendedtoberendered,thespecialcharactersmustbeescaped
<!likethis>.
</textarea>
XHTMLExample:
ThecontentofatextareaelementcanalsobecontainedwithinaCDATAsection.
<textarea><![CDATA[Thiscancontainspecialcharacterslike&,<and>.
Stringsthatlooklikemarkup,like<!comments>,
characterreferences&,<and>,
orotherelements<span>aretreatedasplaintext,insteadofmarkup.
]]></textarea>
3.2.2.5ForeignElements
ThetermforeignelementsreferstoelementsthatareintheSVGandMathMLnamespaces.
Theserequireastarttagandanendtag.Theselfclosingtagsyntaxmaybeused,wheretheelement'scontentmodelpermits.
Optionaltagsarenotsupported.
Theseelementscancontaintext,characterreferences,CDATAsections,otherelements,andcomments,butthetextmustnot
containthelessthansigncharacter(<)oranambiguousampersand.
Needexamples.
3.2.2.6NormalElements
NormalElementsreferstoallotherHTMLelementsthatarenotcategorisedinanyoftheothertypes.
Thesehaveastarttagandanendtag.Theseelementsdonotsupporttheselfclosingtagsyntax.Certainelementshaveoptional
tags,meaningthatoneorbothtagsmaybeomittedinspecificcircumstanceswherethepresenceofthetagwillbeimpliedby
surroundingmarkup.Consulttheelementdefinitionstoseewhichtagsmaybeomitted.
Normalelementscancontaintext,characterreferences,otherelements,andcomments,butthetextmustnotcontainthelessthan
signcharacter(<)oranambiguousampersand.Someadditionalrestrictionsapplyonaperelementbasistosomespecific
Self
HTML
XHTML
ElementType
StartTag
EndTag
AllowedContentSyntax
elements.Consulttheelementdefinitionsfordetails.
Closing
Needexamples.
3.2.2.7ElementTypeComparision
ComparisonoftheelementtypesyntaxrequirementsinHTML.(ThisdoesnotapplytoXHTML)
Self
ElementType
StartTag
EndTag
AllowedContentSyntax
Closing
Normal
Yes(sometimes
Yes(sometimes
No
Text,elements,comments,characterreferences
Element
optional)
optional)
No
Yes
(optional)
Empty
Yes(Required)
Yes(Required)
No
Text
Yes(Required)
Yes(Required)
No
Text,characterreferences
Yes
Yes
Yes
Text,elements,CDATAsections,comments,character
references
VoidElement Yes
RawText
Element
RCDATA
Element
Foreign
Element
ComparisonoftheelementandtagsyntaxrequirementsbetweenHTMLandXHTML
HTML
XHTML
Optionalforselectedelementsrequiredforothers,
StartTag
Requiredforallelements
unlessanemptyelementtagisused
Optionalforselectedelementsforbiddenforvoid
Requiredforallelementswithmatchingstarttag,
EndTag
elementsorifemptyelementtagisusedrequiredfor
unnecessaryandforbiddenifemptyelementtagis
others
used
Allowedforvoidelementsandforeigncontentelements
SelfClosingTag
Allowedforallelements(ifcontentmodelpermits)
(ifcontentmodelpermits)
TagName
Caseinsensitive
Namespace
PrefixesforTag Forbidden
Name
NormalElements Yes
VoidElements
RawText
Elements
RCDATA
Elements
ForeignElements
Linefeed
immediatelyafter
starttag
Casesensitive
Allowed
Yes
Yes,usestarttagimmediatelyclosedbyanendtag,
Yes,usestarttagwithnoendtag,oremptyelementtag
oremptyelementtag
Yes
No(treatedasnormalelements)
Yes
No(treatedasnormalelements)
SVGandMathMLonly
Any
Normalised
Allowed
3.2.3Attributes
Elementsmayhaveattributesthatareusedtospecifyadditionalinformationaboutthem.Someattributesaredefinedgloballyand
canbeusedonanyHTMLelement,whileothersaredefinedforspecificelementsonly.Everyattributemusthaveanattribute
namethatisusedtoidentifyit.Everyattributealsohasanassociatedattributevalue,which,dependingontheattribute'sdefinition,
mayrepresentoneofseveraldifferenttypes.Thepermittedsyntaxforeachattributedependsonthegivenvalue.
AtypicalattributeinHTMLhasanameandavalueseparatedbyanequalssign(=).Attributesareplacedwithinastarttagandare
separatedfromthetagnameandfromeachotherbywhitespace.Theymustnotbespecifiedwithinanendtag.
Example:
Thesyntaxoftwotypicalattributes.
<divclass="example"lang="en">...</div>
ExampleError:
Attributescannotbeplacedwithinendtags.
<sectionid="example">...</sectionid="example">
InHTML,attributenamesarecaseinsensitive.Itisconventionaltousetheircanonicalcase,butthisisnotrequired.Forexample,
theycouldbewritteninalluppercaseormixedcase,dependingonyourownpreferences.Forcustomattributes,attributenames
mustconsistofoneormorecharactersotherthanthespacecharacters,controlcharacters,NULL,oneofthecharacters:double
quote("),singlequote('),greaterthansign(>),solidus(/),equalssign(=),noranycharactersthatarenotdefinedbyUnicode.Itis,
however,recommendedthatauthorsusethelowercaselettersintherangesazand09.
HTMLExample:
AttributenamesinHTMLarecaseinsensitive,andcanbewritteninuppercaseormixedcase.
<divCLASS="example"Lang="en">...</div>
InXHTML,attributenamesarecasesensitiveandmustbewrittenintheircanonicalcase.Ingeneral,thecanonicalcaseis
lowercaseformostattributesonHTMLandMathMLelements,andcamelcaseforSVG.Refertothedefinitionofeachelementifin
doubt.
Attributevaluesmaycontaintextandcharacterreferences,subjecttotherestrictionthatthetextcannotcontainanambiguous
ampersand,andtoanyadditionalrestrictionsimposedbythesyntaxbeingused.Therearefourslightlydifferentsyntaxesthatmay
beusedforattributesinHTML:empty,unquoted,singlequotedanddoublequoted.AllfoursyntaxesmaybeusedintheHTML
syntax,dependingonwhatisneededforeachspecificattribute.However,intheXHTMLsyntax,attributevaluesmustalwaysbe
quotedusingeithersingleordoublequotes.
3.2.3.1EmptyAttributeSyntax
Anemptyattributeisonewherethevaluehasbeenomitted.Thisisasyntacticshorthandforspecifyingtheattributewithanempty
value,andiscommonlyusedforbooleanattributes.ThissyntaxmaybeusedintheHTMLsyntax,butnotintheXHTMLsyntax.
Note:InpreviouseditionsofHTML,whichwereformallybasedonSGML,itwastechnicallyanattributesnamethatcouldbe
omittedwherethevaluewasauniqueenumeratedvaluespecifiedintheDTD.However,duetolegacyconstraints,thishasbeen
changedinHTML5toreflectthewayimplementationsreallywork.
HTMLExample:
EmptyattributesmayhavetheirvalueomittedintheHTMLsyntax.
<inputdisabled>...</div>
Example:
Specifyingthevalueasasanemptystringisequivalenttotheemptyattributesyntax.ThisisanXHTMLcompatiblesyntax.
<inputdisabled="">...</div>
Note:Thepreviousexamplesaresemanticallyequivalenttospecifyingtheattributewiththevalue"disabled",butarenotexactlythe
same.
Thissyntaxispermittedonlyforbooleanattributes.
3.2.3.2UnquotedAttributeValueSyntax
Anunquotedattributevalueisonewherethevalueissupplied,butisnotsurroundedbyquotationmarks.Thissyntaxmaybeused
intheHTMLsyntax,butnotintheXHTMLsyntax.
Theattributevaluemustnotcontainanyliteralspacecharacters,anyofthecharacters:doublequote("),apostrophe('),equals
sign(=),lessthansign(<),greaterthansign(>),orgraveaccent(`),andthevaluemustnotbetheemptystring.Torepresentthose
charactersinanattributevalue,theyeitherneedtobeescapedusingcharacterreferences,oryouneedtouseeitherthesingleor
doublequotedattributevalues.
HTMLExample:
SomeattributevaluesmaybeleftunquotedintheHTMLsyntax.
<imgsrc=example.pngheight=200width=300/>
Inthepreviousexample,eachattributeisseparatedfromthelastbyaspace.Theslashattheend,whichdespitenotbeing
separatedfromthelastvaluebyanyspacecharacters,isnotconsideredpartoftheattribute'svalue.Instead,thetheslashindicates
theuseoftheselfclosingtagsyntax.
Theremaybespacecharactersbetweentheattributenameandtheequalssign(=),andbetweenthatandtheattributevalue.
HTMLExample:
Whitespaceispermittedbeforeandafterthetheequalssign,separatingthenameandvalue.
<imgsrc=image.png>
3.2.3.3DoubleQuotedAttributeValueSyntax
Andoublequotedattributevalueisonewherethesuppliedvalueissurroundedbydoublequotationmarks(").Thissyntaxmaybe
usedinbothHTMLandXHTML.
HTML
XHTML
Theattributevaluemustdelimitedbydoublequotecharacters(")beforeandafterthevalue,andmustnotcontainanydoublequote
charactersoranambiguousampersandsinbetween.Allothertextandcharacterreferencesarepermitted.
Theadvantageofquotingattributes,thevaluemaycontaintheadditionalcharactersthatcantbeusedinunquotedattributevalues.
Toincludeadoublequotecharacterwithinthevalue,eitheruseacharacterreference("),oruseasinglequotedattributevalue
instead.
Example:
Attributevaluesmaybequotedwithdoublequotemarks.
<imgsrc="example.jpg"title="Anexamplephotograph">
HTMLExample:
<imgsrc="example.png">
3.2.3.4SingleQuotedAttributeValueSyntax
Ansinglequotedattributevalueisonewherethesuppliedvalueissurroundedbysinglequotationmarks(').Thissyntaxmaybe
usedinbothHTMLandXHTML.
Theattributevaluemustdelimitedbysinglequotecharacters(')beforeandafterthevalue,andmustnotcontainanysinglequote
charactersoranambiguousampersandsinbetween.Allothertextandcharacterreferencesarepermitted.
Theadvantageofquotingattributes,thevaluemaycontaintheadditionalcharactersthatcantbeusedinunquotedattributevalues.
Toincludeasinglequote(orapostrophe)characterwithinthevalue,eitheruseacharacterreference('),oruseadouble
quotedattributevalueinstead.
Example:
Attributevaluesmaybequotedwithsinglequotemarks.
<imgsrc='example.jpg'title='Anexamplephotograph'>
HTMLExample:
<imgsrc='example.png'>
ComparisonoftheattributesyntaxrequirementsbetweenHTMLandXHTML
HTML
XHTML
AttributeNames
Caseinsensitive
Casesensitive
NamespacePrefixesforAttributeNames
Limited,specifiedprefixesonly
Allowed
Emptyattributes
Allowed
Forbidden
Unquotedattributes
Allowed
Forbidden
Doublequotedattributes
Allowed
Allowed
Singlequotedattributes
Linefeedsinattributevalues
3.2.4Comments
...
3.2.5Text
...
3.2.6CDATASections
...
Allowed
Allowed
Allowed
Normalisedtospaces
3.2.7CharacterReferences
Discussnumericandnamedcharacterreferencesyntax.Maylinktothelistofentityreferencesinaseparatedocument,ratherthan
tryingtolistthemallinhere.
3.3UnderstandingMIMETypes
Discusstext/html,application/xhtml+xml,etc.
3.4CharacterEncoding
OverviewofUnicode,characterrepertoires,encodings,etc.DeclaringtheencodingwiththeContentTypeheader,BOM,meta,etc.
3.5ChoosingHTMLorXHTML
ThechoiceofHTMLorXHTMLsyntaxislargelydependentuponanumberoffactorsthe,includingneedsofagivenproject,the
skillsetofthedevelopersinvolved,levelofsupportinbrowsersusedbythesitestargetaudience,oritmaysimplybeamatterof
personalpreference.
Theimportantthingtounderstandisthattherearevalidreasonstochooseboth,andthatauthorsareencouragedtomakean
informeddecision.
Needtodevelopguidelinestohelpauthorsmakethischoice.
3.6PolyglotDocuments
ApolyglotHTMLdocumentisadocumentthatconformstoboththeHTMLandXHTMLsyntacticrequirements,andwhichcanbe
processedaseitherbybrowsers,dependingontheMIMEtypeused.Thisworksbyusingacommonsubsetofthesyntaxthatis
sharedbybothHTMLandXHTML.
PolyglotdocumentsareusefultocreateforsituationswhereadocumentisintendedtobeservedaseitherHTMLorXHTML,
dependingonthesupportinparticularbrowsers,orwhenitisnotknownatthetimeofcreation,whichMIMEtypethedocumentwill
ultimatelybeservedas.
Inordertosuccessfullycreateandmaintainpolyglotdocuments,authorsneedtobefamiliarwithboththesimilaritiesand
differencesbetweenthetwosyntaxes.Thisincludesnotonlysyntacticdifferences,butalsodifferencesinthewaystylesheets,and
scriptsarehandled,andthewayinwhichcharacterencodingsaredetected.
Thissectionwillprovidethedetailsabouteachofthesesimilaritiesanddifferences,andprovideguidelinesonthecreationof
polyglotdocuments.
BasethisontheHTMLvs.XHTMLarticle.
4TheHTMLVocabularyandAPIs
4.1Categories
EachelementinHTMLfallsintozeroormorecategoriesthatgroupelementswithsimilarcharacteristicstogether.Thefollowing
categoriesareusedinthisguide:
Metadatacontent
Flowcontent
Sectioningroot
Sectioningcontent
Headingcontent
Phrasingcontent
Embeddedcontent
Interactivecontent
Transparent
Someelementshaveuniquerequirementsanddonotfitintoanyparticularcategory.
Thesecategoriesarerelatedasfollows:
Flow
Phrasing
Interactive
Heading
Embedded
Sectioning
Metadata
[Createandlinktosomesortofindexofelementsthatlistseachelementineachcategory.]
4.1.1MetadataContent
Metadatacontentincludeselementsformarkingupdocumentmetadatamarkinguporlinkingtoresourcesthatdescribethe
behaviourorpresentationofthedocumentorindicaterelationshipswithotherdocuments.
Metadataelementsappearwithintheheadofadocument.Somecommonexamplesofmetadataelementsinclude:title,meta,link,
scriptandstyle.
4.1.2Flowcontent
Mostelementsthatareusedinthebodyofdocumentsandapplicationsarecategorisedasflowcontent.Mostoftheelementsused
tomarkupthemaincontentinthebodyofapageareconsideredtobeflowcontent.Ingeneral,thisincludeselementsthatare
presentedvisuallyaseitherblocklevelorinlinelevel.
Somecommonflowcontentincludeselementslikediv,p,emandstrong.
Elementscategorisedasheadingcontent,phrasingcontentorembeddedcontentarealsoconsideredtobeflowcontent.
4.1.3Sectioningroot
[Thisdescriptionneedsimproving.]
Theseelementscanhavetheirownoutlines,butthesectionsandheadersinsidetheseelementsdonotcontributetotheoutlinesof
theirancestors.
Somecommonsectioningrootelementsinclude,amongothers,body,blockquoteandfigure.
4.1.4Sectioningcontent
Sectioningcontentisusedforstructuringadocumentintosections,eachofwhichgenerallyhasitsownheading.Theseelements
provideascopewithinwhichassociatedheaders,footersandcontactinformationapply.
Somecommonsectioningelementsinclude,amongothers,section,articleandnav.
Mostsectioningelements,withtheexceptionofthebodyelement,arealsoclassifiedasflowcontent.
4.1.5Headingcontent
Headingcontentincludestheelementsformarkingupheaders.Headings,inconjunctionwiththesectioningelements,areusedto
describethethestructureofthedocument.
Headingcontentincludestheheaderelementandtheh1toh6elements.
Elementscategorisedasheadingcontentareconsideredtobeflowcontent.
4.1.6Phrasingcontent
Phrasingcontentincludestextandtextlevelmarkup.ThisissimilartotheconceptofinlinelevelelementsinHTML4.01.Most
elementsthatarecategorisedasphrasingcontentcanonlycontainotherphrasingcontent.
Somecommonexamplesofphrasingcontentelementsincludeabbr,em,strongandspan
Elementscategorisedasphrasingcontentareconsideredtobeflowcontent.
4.1.7Embeddedcontent
Embeddedcontentincludeselementsthatloadexternalresourcesintothedocument.Suchexternalresourcesinclude,forexample,
images,videosandFlashbasedcontent.Someembeddedcontentelementsincludeimg,object,embedandvideo.
Elementscategorisedasembeddedcontentareconsideredtobephrasingcontent,andthusalsoconsideredtobeflowcontent.
4.1.8Interactivecontent
Interactiveelementsarethosethatallowtheusertointeractwithoractivateinsomeway.Dependingontheusersbrowserand
device,thiscouldbeperformedusinganykindofinputdevice,suchas,forexample,amouse,keyboard,touchscreenorvoice
input.
Somecommonexamplesofinteractivecontentincludea,audioandvideowhenusedwiththecontrolsattribute,andmostform
controlsusinginput.
4.1.9TransparentContentModels
Someelementshavetransparentcontentmodels,meaningthattheirallowedcontentdependsupontheparentelement.Theymay
containanycontentthattheirparentelementmaycontain,inadditiontoanyotherallowancesorexceptionsdescribedforthe
element.
Whentheelementhasnoparent,thenthecontentmodeldefaultstoflowcontent.
4.2GlobalAttributes
Tobecompleted.
4.3TheElements
Expectmajorchangestothissection.Eachoftheseneedslongerdescriptionsandtheelementsshouldbedividedinto
categories.TheIDLfortheDOMInterfacesislikelytobereplacedbysomethingalotmorereaderfriendlyinthefutureconsider
itaplaceholderfornow.Attributeswilllikelybeaccompaniedbybriefdescriptionswithinthesummarybox,inadditiontofuller
descriptionsandexamplesafterwards.
4.3.1TheRootElement
4.3.1.1Thehtmlelement
Starttag:optionalEndtag:optional
ThehtmlelementrepresentstherootofanHTMLdocument.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Astherootelementofadocument.
Whereverasubdocumentfragmentisallowedinacompounddocument.
ContentModel:
Aheadelementfollowedbyabodyelement.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
manifest
Thehtmlelementistherootelementofadocument.Everydocumentmustbeginwiththiselement,anditmustcontainboththehead
andbodyelements.
Itisconsideredgoodpracticetospecifytheprimarylanguageofthedocumentonthiselementusingthelangattribute.
HTMLExample:
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<htmllang="en">
<head>
...
</head>
<body>
...
</body>
</html>
IntheHTMLsyntaxonly,boththestartandendtagsareoptional,andsoforconvenienceeithermaybeomitted,unlessyouwishto
specifyattributesonthiselement,inwhichcase,atleastthestarttagneedstobeincluded.
HTMLExample:
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<head>
...
</head>
<body>
...
</body>
IntheXHTMLsyntax,thexmlnsattributeneedstobespecifiedonthiselementtodeclarethatitisintheHTMLnamespace.Youmay
useeitherthelangorxml:langattributetospecifythelanguage.
XHTMLExample:
<htmlxmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"xml:lang="en">
<head>
...
</head>
<body>
...
</body>
</html>
manifest
Themanifestattributegivestheaddressofthedocumentsapplicationcachemanifest,ifthereisone.Iftheattributeis
present,theattributesvaluemustbeavalidURL.
Needtodescribeapplicationcachemanifests.
4.3.2DocumentMetadata
4.3.2.1Theheadelement
Theheadelementcollectsthedocumentsmetadata.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asthefirstelementinanhtmlelement.
ContentModel:
Oneormoreelementsofmetadatacontent,ofwhichexactlyoneisatitleelement.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
Theheadelementisthecontainerforthedocumentsmetadata.Metadataisinformationaboutthedocumentitself,suchasit'stitle,
author.Scriptsandstylesheetsmayalsobeincludedwithintheheadelement.Everydocumentmusthaveaheadelement.
ThefollowingexamplesillustratethetypicalusageoftheheadelementinHTMLandXHTML.
HTMLExample
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<html>
<head>
<title>Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Document</h1>
</body>
</html>
XHTMLExample
<head>
<title>Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Document</h1>
</body>
</html>
4.3.2.2Thetitleelement
Starttag:requiredEndtag:required
Thetitleelementrepresentsthedocumentstitleorname,andshouldbemeaningfulevenwhenreadoutofcontext.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
ContainedBy:
Inaheadelementcontainingnoothertitleelements.
ContentModel:
Text.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.2.3Thebaseelement
Starttag:requiredEndtag:empty
ThebaseelementisforspecifyingabaseURLagainstwhichrelativelinkswillberesolved,andthenameofthedefaulttargetfor
openinglinksandformsubmissions.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
ContainedBy:
Inaheadelementcontainingnootherbaseelements.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLBaseElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringhref;
attributeDOMStringtarget;
};
href
target
4.3.2.4Thelinkelement
Thelinkisforlinkingtootherresources,suchasstylesheets,faviconsandsyndicationfeeds.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
ContainedBy:
Wheremetadatacontentisexpected.
Inanoscriptelementthatisachildofaheadelement.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
href
rel
media
hreflang
type
sizes
Also,thetitleattributehasspecialsemanticsonthis
element.
interfaceHTMLLinkElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleandisabled;
attributeDOMStringrel;
readonlyattributeDOMTokenListrelList;
attributeDOMStringmedia;
attributeDOMStringhreflang;
attributeDOMStringtype;
attributeDOMStringsizes;
};
TheLinkStyleinterfacemustalsobeimplementedbythis
element,thestylingprocessingmodeldefineshow.[CSSOM]
4.3.2.5Themetaelement
Themetaelementisforprovidingvarioustypesofmetadata,suchastheapplicationnameorspecifyingthedocumentscharacter
encoding.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
ContainedBy:
Ifthecharsetattributeispresent,oriftheelementisintheEncodingdeclarationstate:inahead
element.
Ifthehttpequivattributeispresent,andtheelementisnotintheEncodingdeclarationstate:inahead
element.
Ifthehttpequivattributeispresent,andtheelementisnotintheEncodingdeclarationstate:ina
noscriptelementthatisachildofaheadelement.
Ifthenameattributeispresent:wheremetadatacontentisexpected.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
name
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLMetaElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringcontent;
attributeDOMStringname;
attributeDOMStringhttpEquiv;
};
httpequiv
content
charset
4.3.2.6Thestyleelement
Thestyleelementallowsauthorstoembedstylesheets,typicallyCSS,withintheirdocuments.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
Ifthescopedattributeispresent:flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
Ifthescopedattributeisabsent:wheremetadatacontentisexpected.
Ifthescopedattributeisabsent:inanoscriptelementthatisachildofaheadelement.
Ifthescopedattributeispresent:whereflowcontentisexpected,butbeforeanyotherflowcontent
otherthanotherstyleelementsandinterelementwhitespace.
ContentModel:
Dependsonthevalueofthetypeattribute.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
media
type
scoped
element.
interfaceHTMLStyleElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleanscoped;
};
TheLinkStyleinterfacemustalsobeimplementedbythis
element,thestylingprocessingmodeldefineshow.[CSSOM]
4.3.3Scripting
4.3.3.1Thescriptelement
Thescriptelementallowsauthorstoincludescripts,typicallyjavaScript,anddatablocksintheirdocuments.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
Wherephrasingcontentisexpected.
ContentModel:
Ifthereisnosrcattribute,dependsonthevalueofthetypeattribute.
Ifthereisasrcattribute,theelementmustbeeitheremptyorcontainonlyscriptdocumentation.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLScriptElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringsrc;
attributebooleanasync;
attributebooleandefer;
attributeDOMStringcharset;
attributeDOMStringtext;
};
src
async
defer
type
charset
4.3.3.2Thenoscriptelement
Thenoscriptelementisusedtoprovidealternativecontentforusersusingbrowsersthatdonotsupportscriptingorhaveit
disabled.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
InaheadelementofanHTMLdocument,iftherearenoancestornoscriptelements.
WherephrasingcontentisexpectedinHTMLdocuments,iftherearenoancestornoscriptelements.
ContentModel:
Whenscriptingisdisabled,inaheadelement:inanyorder,zeroormorelinkelements,zeroormore
styleelements,andzeroormoremetaelements.
Whenscriptingisdisabled,notinaheadelement:transparent,buttheremustbenonoscriptelement
descendants.
Otherwise:textthatconformstotherequirementsgivenintheprose.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4Sections
4.3.4.1Thebodyelement
Thebodyelementrepresentsthemaincontentofthedocument.
Categories:
Sectioningroot.
ContainedBy:
Asthesecondelementinanhtmlelement.
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLBodyElement:HTMLElement{
attributeFunctiononbeforeunload;
attributeFunctiononerror;
attributeFunctiononhashchange;
attributeFunctiononload;
attributeFunctiononmessage;
attributeFunctiononoffline;
attributeFunctionononline;
attributeFunctiononpopstate;
attributeFunctiononresize;
attributeFunctiononstorage;
attributeFunctiononunload;
};
onbeforeunload
onerror
onhashchange
onload
onmessage
onoffline
ononline
onpopstate
onresize
onstorage
onunload
4.3.4.2Thesectionelement
Thesectionelementrepresentsagenericdocumentorapplicationsection.Asection,inthiscontext,isathematicgroupingof
content,typicallywithaheaderandpossiblyafooter.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningcontent.
ContainedBy:
Whereflowcontentisexpected.
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.3Thenavelement
Thenavelementrepresentsasectionofapagecontainingprimarynavigationlinkstootherpagesortopartswithinthepage.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.4Thearticleelement
Thearticleelementrepresentsanindependentsectionofadocument,page,orsite.Thiscouldbeaforumpost,amagazineor
newspaperarticle,ablogentry,ausersubmittedcomment,oranyotherindependentitemofcontent.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.5Theasideelement
Theasideelementrepresentsasectionofapagethatconsistsofcontentthatistangentiallyrelatedtothecontentaroundthe
asideelement,andwhichcouldbeconsideredseparatefromthatcontent.Suchsectionsareoftenrepresentedassidebarsin
printedtypography.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.6Theh1,h2,h3,h4,h5,andh6elements
Theseelementsdefineheadersfortheirsections.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Headingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.7Theheaderelement
Theheaderelementrepresentstheheaderofasection,typicallycontainingheadingsandsubheadings,andothermetadata
aboutthesection.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Headingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent,includingatleastonedescendantthatisheadingcontent,butnosectioningcontent
descendants,noheaderelementdescendants,andnofooterelementdescendants.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.8Thefooterelement
Thefooterelementrepresentsafooterofasection,typicallycontaininginformationsuchaswhowroteit,linkstorelated
documents,andcopyrightnotices.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent,butwithnoheadingcontentdescendants,nosectioningcontentdescendants,andno
footerelementdescendants.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.9Theaddresselement
Theaddresselementrepresentsthecontactinformationforthesectionitappliesto.Ifitappliestothebodyelement,thenit
insteadappliestothedocumentasawhole.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent,butwithnoheadingcontentdescendants,nosectioningcontentdescendants,no
footerelementdescendants,andnoaddresselementdescendants.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.4.10HeadingsandSections
Atypicaldocumentisoftenstructuredintodifferentsectionsandsubsections,witheachpotentiallyhavingitsownheadingand
possiblyasubheading.Theseheadingandsectioningelementsprovideawayforthisstructuretobeconveyedtothereader.
Considerasimplepagelikeablog,whichisstructuredintoafewmainsections.
4.3.5GroupingContent
4.3.5.1Thepelement
Starttag:requiredEndtag:optional
Thepelementrepresentsaparagraph.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.2Thehrelement
Thehrelementrepresentsaparagraphlevelthematicbreak,e.g.ascenechangeinastory,oratransitiontoanothertopicwithin
asectionofareferencebook.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.3Thebrelement
Thebrelementrepresentsalinebreak.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.4Thepreelement
Thepreelementrepresentsablockofpreformattedtext,inwhichstructureisrepresentedbytypographicconventionsratherthan
byelements.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.5Thedialogelement
Thedialogelementrepresentsaconversation.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormorepairsofonedtelementfollowedbyoneddelement.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.6Theblockquoteelement
Theblockquoteelementrepresentsasectionthatisquotedfromanothersource.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningroot.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLQuoteElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringcite;
};
cite
TheHTMLQuoteElementinterfaceisalsousedbytheqelement.
4.3.5.7Theolelement
Theolelementrepresentsanorderedlist.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormorelielements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLOListElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleanreversed;
attributelongstart;
};
reversed
start
4.3.5.8Theulelement
Theulelementrepresentsanunorderedlist.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormorelielements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.9Thelielement
Thelielementrepresentsalistitem.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Insideolelements.
Insideulelements.
Insidemenuelements.
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
Iftheelementisachildofanolelement:value
interfaceHTMLLIElement:HTMLElement{
attributelongvalue;
};
4.3.5.10Thedlelement
Thedlelementintroducesanassociationlistcontaininggroupsoftermsandassociateddescriptions.(adescriptionlist).
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormoregroupseachconsistingofoneormoredtelementsfollowedbyoneormoredd
elements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.11Thedtelement
Thedtelementrepresentstheterm,orname,partofatermdescriptiongroupinadescriptionlist(dlelement),andthetalker,or
speaker,partofatalkerdiscoursepairinaconversation(dialogelement).
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Beforeddordtelementsinsidedlelements.
Beforeaddelementinsideadialogelement.
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.5.12Theddelement
Theddelementrepresentsthedescription,definition,orvalue,partofatermdescriptiongroupinadescriptionlist(dlelement),
andthediscourse,orquote,partinaconversation(dialogelement).
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Afterdtorddelementsinsidedlelements.
Afteradtelementinsideadialogelement.
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6TextLevelSemantics
4.3.6.1Theaelement
Iftheaelementhasanhrefattribute,thenitrepresentsahyperlink.
Categories:
Interactivecontent.
Flowcontent.
Whentheelementonlycontainsphrasingcontent:phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Transparent,buttheremustbenointeractivecontentdescendant.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
[Stringifies=href]interfaceHTMLAnchorElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringping;
};
href
target
ping
rel
media
hreflang
type
TheCommandinterfacemustalsobeimplementedbythiselement.
4.3.6.2Theqelement
Theqelementrepresentsaphrasequotedfromanothersource.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
TheqelementusestheHTMLQuoteElementinterface.
cite
4.3.6.3Theciteelement
Theciteelementrepresentsthetitleofawork,suchasanarticle,abook,apoem,asong,afilm,oranyothercreativework.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.4Theemelement
Theemelementrepresentsstressemphasisofitscontents.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.5Thestrongelement
Thestrongelementrepresentsstrongimportanceforitscontents.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.6Thesmallelement
Thesmallelementrepresentssmallprint(partofadocumentoftendescribinglegalrestrictions,suchascopyrightsorother
disadvantages),orothersidecomments.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.7Themarkelement
Themarkelementrepresentsarunoftextinonedocumentmarkedorhighlightedforreferencepurposes,duetoitsrelevancein
anothercontext.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.8Thedfnelement
Thedfnelementrepresentsthedefininginstanceofaterm,whereitsdefinitionisprovidednearby.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent,buttheremustbenodescendantdfnelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
element.
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.9Theabbrelement
Theabbrelementrepresentsanabbreviationoracronym,optionallywithitsexpansion.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
element.
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.10Thetimeelement
Thetimeelementrepresentsadateand/oratime.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLTimeElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringdateTime;
readonlyattributeDatedate;
readonlyattributeDatetime;
readonlyattributeDatetimezone;
};
datetime
4.3.6.11Theprogresselement
Theprogresselementrepresentsthecompletionprogressofatask.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
value
max
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLProgressElement:HTMLElement{
attributefloatvalue;
attributefloatmax;
readonlyattributefloatposition;
};
4.3.6.12Themeterelement
Themeterelementrepresentsascalarmeasurementwithinaknownrange,orafractionalvalue.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLMeterElement:HTMLElement{
attributefloatvalue;
attributefloatmin;
attributefloatmax;
attributefloatlow;
attributefloathigh;
attributefloatoptimum;
};
value
min
low
high
max
optimum
4.3.6.13Thecodeelement
Thecodeelementrepresentsafragmentofcomputercode.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.14Thevarelement
Thevarelementrepresentsavariable,suchasinamathematicalexpressionorprogrammingcontext,oritcouldjustbeaterm
usedasaplaceholderinprose.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.15Thesampelement
Thesampelementrepresents(sample)outputfromaprogramorcomputingsystem.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.16Thekbdelement
Thekbdelementrepresentsuserinput(typicallykeyboardinput,althoughitmayalsobeusedtorepresentotherinput,suchas
voicecommands).
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.17Thesubandsupelements
Thesupelementrepresentsasuperscriptandthesubelementrepresentsasubscript.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.18Thespanelement
Thespanelementdoesntmeananythingonitsown,butcanbeusefulwhenusedtogetherwithotherattributes,e.g.class,lang,
ordir.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.19Theielement
Theielementrepresentsaspanoftextinanalternatevoiceormood,orotherwiseoffsetfromthenormalprose,suchasa
taxonomicdesignation,atechnicalterm,anidiomaticphrasefromanotherlanguage,athought,ashipname,orsomeother
prosewhosetypicaltypographicpresentationisitalicized.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.20Thebelement
Thebelementrepresentsaspanoftexttobestylisticallyoffsetfromthenormalprosewithoutconveyinganyextraimportance,
suchaskeywordsinadocumentabstract,productnamesinareview,orotherspansoftextwhosetypicaltypographic
presentationisboldened.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.21Thebdoelement
ThebdoelementallowsauthorstooverridetheUnicodebidialgorithmbyexplicitlyspecifyingadirectionoverride.[BIDI]
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
Also,thedirglobalattributehasspecialsemanticsonthis
element.
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.22Therubyelement
Therubyelementallowsoneormorespansofphrasingcontenttobemarkedwithrubyannotations.Rubyannotationsareshort
runsoftextpresentedalongsidebasetext,primarilyusedinEastAsiantypographyasaguideforpronounciationortoinclude
otherannotations.InJapanese,thisformoftypographyisalsoknownasfurigana.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Oneormoregroupsof:phrasingcontentfollowedeitherbyasinglertelement,oranrpelement,an
rtelement,andanotherrpelement.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.23Thertelement
Thertelementmarkstherubytextcomponentofarubyannotation.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofarubyelement.
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.6.24Therpelement
Therpelementcanbeusedtoprovideparenthesesaroundarubytextcomponentofarubyannotation,tobeshownbyuser
agentsthatdontsupportrubyannotations.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofarubyelement,eitherimmediatelybeforeorimmediatelyafteranrtelement.
ContentModel:
Iftherpelementisimmediatelyafteranrtelementthatisimmediatelyprecededbyanotherrp
element:asinglecharacterfromUnicodecharacterclassPe.
Otherwise:asinglecharacterfromUnicodecharacterclassPs.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.7Edits
4.3.7.1Theinselement
Theinselementrepresentsanadditiontothedocument.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsestheHTMLModElementinterface.
cite
datetime
4.3.7.2Thedelelement
Thedelelementrepresentsaremovalfromthedocument.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsestheHTMLModElementinterface.
cite
datetime
4.3.8EmbeddedContent
4.3.8.1Thefigureelement
Thefigureelementrepresentssomeflowcontent,optionallywithacaption,whichcanbemovedawayfromthemainflowofthe
documentwithoutaffectingthedocumentsmeaning.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Sectioningroot.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Either:onelegendelementfollowedbyflowcontent.
Or:Flowcontentfollowedbyonelegendelement.
Or:Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.8.2Theimgelement
Animgelementrepresentsanimage.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
Iftheelementhasanusemapattribute:Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
Whereembeddedcontentisexpected.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
[NamedConstructor=Image(),
NamedConstructor=Image(inunsignedlongwidth),
NamedConstructor=Image(inunsignedlongwidth,inunsignedlongheight)]
interfaceHTMLImageElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringalt;
attributeDOMStringuseMap;
attributebooleanisMap;
attributeunsignedlongwidth;
attributeunsignedlongheight;
readonlyattributebooleancomplete;
};
alt
src
usemap
ismap
width
height
4.3.8.3Theiframeelement
Theiframeelementintroducesanewnestedbrowsingcontext.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Textthatconformstotherequirementsgivenintheprose.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLIFrameElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringsandbox;
attributebooleanseamless;
attributeDOMStringwidth;
attributeDOMStringheight;
};
src
name
sandbox
seamless
width
height
ObjectsimplementingtheHTMLIFrameElementinterfacemust
alsoimplementtheEmbeddingElementinterfacedefinedinthe
WindowObjectspecification.[WINDOW]
4.3.8.4Theembedelement
Theembedelementrepresentsanintegrationpointforanexternal(typicallynonHTML)applicationorinteractivecontent.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
src
type
width
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLEmbedElement:HTMLElement{
height
Anyotherattributethathasnonamespace(seeprose).
};
Dependingonthetypeofcontentinstantiatedbytheembed
element,thenodemayalsosupportotherinterfaces.
4.3.8.5Theobjectelement
Theobjectelementcanrepresentanexternalresource,which,dependingonthetypeoftheresource,willeitherbetreatedasan
image,asanestedbrowsingcontext,orasanexternalresourcetobeprocessedbyaplugin.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
Listed,submittable,formassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormoreparamelements,then,transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLObjectElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringdata;
attributeDOMStringuseMap;
readonlyattributeHTMLFormElementform;
};
data
type
name
usemap
form
width
height
ObjectsimplementingtheHTMLObjectElementinterfacemust
alsoimplementtheEmbeddingElementinterfacedefinedinthe
WindowObjectspecification.[WINDOW]
Dependingonthetypeofcontentinstantiatedbytheobject
element,thenodemayalsosupportotherinterfaces.
4.3.8.6Theparamelement
Theparamelementdefinesparametersforpluginsinvokedbyobjectelements.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofanobjectelement,beforeanyflowcontent.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLParamElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringvalue;
};
name
value
4.3.8.7Thevideoelement
Avideoelementrepresentsavideoormovie.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
Iftheelementhasacontrolsattribute:Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Iftheelementhasasrcattribute:transparent.
Iftheelementdoesnothaveasrcattribute:oneormoresourceelements,then,transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLVideoElement:HTMLMediaElement{
readonlyattributeunsignedlongvideoWidth;
readonlyattributeunsignedlongvideoHeight;
attributeDOMStringposter;
};
src
poster
autobuffer
autoplay
loop
controls
width
height
4.3.8.8Theaudioelement
Anaudioelementrepresentsasoundoraudiostream.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
Iftheelementhasacontrolsattribute:Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Iftheelementhasasrcattribute:transparent.
Iftheelementdoesnothaveasrcattribute:oneormoresourceelements,then,transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
[NamedConstructor=Audio(),
NamedConstructor=Audio(inDOMStringsrc)]
interfaceHTMLAudioElement:HTMLMediaElement{
//nomembers
};
src
autobuffer
autoplay
loop
controls
4.3.8.9Thesourceelement
Thesourceelementallowsauthorstospecifymultiplemediaresourcesformediaelements.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofamediaelement,beforeanyflowcontent.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLSourceElement:HTMLElement{
};
src
type
media
4.3.8.10Thecanvaselement
Thecanvaselementrepresentsaresolutiondependentbitmapcanvas,whichcanbeusedforrenderinggraphs,gamegraphics,
orothervisualimagesonthefly.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Embeddedcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Transparent.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
width
height
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLCanvasElement:HTMLElement{
attributeunsignedlongwidth;
attributeunsignedlongheight;
DOMStringtoDataURL([Optional]inDOMStringtype,[Variadic]inanyargs);
ObjectgetContext(inDOMStringcontextId);
};
4.3.8.11Themapelement
Themapelement,inconjunctionwithanyareaelementdescendants,definesanimagemap.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLMapElement:HTMLElement{
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionareas;
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionimages;
};
name
4.3.8.12Theareaelement
Theareaelementrepresentseitherahyperlinkwithsometextandacorrespondingareaonanimagemap,oradeadareaonan
imagemap.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
Wherephrasingcontentisexpected,butonlyifthereisamapelementancestor.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLAreaElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringcoords;
attributeDOMStringshape;
attributeDOMStringping;
};
alt
coords
shape
href
target
ping
rel
media
hreflang
type
4.3.9TabularData
4.3.9.1Thetableelement
Thetableelementrepresentsdatawithmorethanonedimension(atable).
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Inthisorder:optionallyacaptionelement,followedbyeitherzeroormorecolgroupelements,followed
optionallybyatheadelement,followedoptionallybyatfootelement,followedbyeitherzeroormore
tbodyelementsoroneormoretrelements,followedoptionallybyatfootelement(buttherecanonly
beonetfootelementchildintotal).
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLTableElement:HTMLElement{
attributeHTMLTableCaptionElementcaption;
HTMLElementcreateCaption();
voiddeleteCaption();
attributeHTMLTableSectionElementtHead;
HTMLElementcreateTHead();
voiddeleteTHead();
attributeHTMLTableSectionElementtFoot;
HTMLElementcreateTFoot();
voiddeleteTFoot();
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectiontBodies;
HTMLElementcreateTBody();
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionrows;
HTMLElementinsertRow([Optional]inlongindex);
voiddeleteRow(inlongindex);
};
4.3.9.2Thecaptionelement
Thecaptionelementrepresentsthetitleofthetablethatisitsparent,ifithasaparentandthatisatableelement.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asthefirstelementchildofatableelement.
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.3.9.3Thecolgroupelement
Thecolgroupelementrepresentsagroupofoneormorecolumnsinthetablethatisitsparent,ifithasaparentandthatisa
tableelement.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaptionelementsandbeforeanythead,tbody,tfoot,andtr
elements.
ContentModel:
Zeroormorecolelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLTableColElement:HTMLElement{
attributeunsignedlongspan;
};
span
4.3.9.4Thecolelement
Ifacolelementhasaparentandthatisacolgroupelementthatitselfhasaparentthatisatableelement,thenthecolelement
representsoneormorecolumnsinthecolumngrouprepresentedbythatcolgroup.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofacolgroupelementthatdoesn'thaveaspanattribute.
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
HTMLTableColElement,sameasforcolgroupelements.This
interfacedefinesonemember,span.
span
4.3.9.5Thetbodyelement
Thetbodyelementrepresentsablockofrowsthatconsistofabodyofdatafortheparenttableelement,ifthetbodyelementhas
aparentanditisatable.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaption,colgroup,andtheadelements,butonlyifthereareno
trelementsthatarechildrenofthetableelement.
ContentModel:
Zeroormoretrelements
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLTableSectionElement:HTMLElement{
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionrows;
HTMLElementinsertRow([Optional]inlongindex);
voiddeleteRow(inlongindex);
};
TheHTMLTableSectionElementinterfaceisalsousedforthead
andtfootelements.
4.3.9.6Thetheadelement
Thetheadelementrepresentstheblockofrowsthatconsistofthecolumnlabels(headers)fortheparenttableelement,ifthe
theadelementhasaparentanditisatable.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaption,andcolgroupelementsandbeforeanytbody,tfoot,
andtrelements,butonlyiftherearenoothertheadelementsthatarechildrenofthetableelement.
ContentModel:
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
HTMLTableSectionElement,asdefinedfortbodyelements.
4.3.9.7Thetfootelement
Thetfootelementrepresentstheblockofrowsthatconsistofthecolumnsummaries(footers)fortheparenttableelement,ifthe
tfootelementhasaparentanditisatable.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaption,colgroup,andtheadelementsandbeforeanytbody
andtrelements,butonlyiftherearenoothertfootelementsthatarechildrenofthetableelement.
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaption,colgroup,thead,tbody,andtrelements,butonlyif
therearenoothertfootelementsthatarechildrenofthetableelement.
ContentModel:
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
HTMLTableSectionElement,asdefinedfortbodyelements.
4.3.9.8Thetrelement
Thetrelementrepresentsarowofcellsinatable.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatheadelement.
Asachildofatbodyelement.
Asachildofatfootelement.
Asachildofatableelement,afteranycaption,colgroup,andtheadelements,butonlyifthereareno
tbodyelementsthatarechildrenofthetableelement.
ContentModel:
Zeroormoretdorthelements
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLTableRowElement:HTMLElement{
readonlyattributelongrowIndex;
readonlyattributelongsectionRowIndex;
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectioncells;
HTMLElementinsertCell([Optional]inlongindex);
voiddeleteCell(inlongindex);
};
4.3.9.9Thetdelement
Thetdelementrepresentsadatacellinatable.
Categories:
Sectioningroot.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatrelement.
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLTableDataCellElement:HTMLTableCellElement{};
colspan
rowspan
headers
4.3.9.10Thethelement
Thethelementrepresentsaheadercellinatable.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofatrelement.
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLTableHeaderCellElement:HTMLTableCellElement{
attributeDOMStringscope;
};
colspan
rowspan
headers
scope
4.3.10Forms
4.3.10.1Theformelement
Theformelementrepresentsacollectionofformassociatedelements,someofwhichcanrepresenteditablevaluesthatcanbe
submittedtoaserverforprocessing.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent,butwithnoformelementdescendants.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
acceptcharset
action
autocomplete
enctype
method
name
novalidate
target
DOMINTERFACE
[Callable=namedItem]
interfaceHTMLFormElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringacceptCharset;
attributeDOMStringaction;
attributebooleanautocomplete;
attributeDOMStringenctype;
attributeDOMStringmethod;
attributebooleannovalidate;
readonlyattributeHTMLFormControlsCollectionelements;
readonlyattributelonglength;
[IndexGetter]anyitem(inDOMStringname);
[NameGetter=OverrideBuiltins]anynamedItem(inDOMStringname);
voidsubmit();
voidreset();
booleancheckValidity();
voiddispatchFormInput();
voiddispatchFormChange();
};
4.3.10.2Thefieldsetelement
Thefieldsetelementrepresentsasetofformcontrolsgroupedunderacommonname.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Listedformassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Onelegendelementfollwedbyflowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLFieldSetElement:HTMLElement{
disabled
form
name
readonlyattributeDOMStringtype;
readonlyattributeHTMLFormControlsCollectionelements;
readonlyattributebooleanwillValidate;
readonlyattributeValidityStatevalidity;
readonlyattributeDOMStringvalidationMessage;
voidsetCustomValidity(inDOMStringerror);
};
4.3.10.3Thelabelelement
Thelabelrepresentsacaptioninauserinterface.Thecaptioncanbeassociatedwithaspecificformcontrol,knownasthelabel
elementslabeledcontrol.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Interactivecontent.
Formassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent,butwithnodescendantlabelableformassociatedelementsunlessitisthe
element'slabeledcontrol,andnodescendantlabelelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLLabelElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringhtmlFor;
readonlyattributeHTMLElementcontrol;
};
form
for
4.3.10.4Theinputelement
Theinputelementrepresentsatypeddatafield,usuallywithaformcontroltoallowtheusertoeditthedata.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
IfthetypeattributeisnotintheHiddenstate:Interactivecontent.
Listed,labelable,submittable,andresettableformassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
accept
action
alt
autocomplete
autofocus
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLInputElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringaccept;
attributebooleanautocomplete;
attributebooleanautofocus;
attributebooleandefaultChecked;
attributebooleanchecked;
attributebooleanindeterminate;
readonlyattributeHTMLElementlist;
attributeDOMStringmax;
attributelongmaxLength;
attributeDOMStringmin;
attributebooleanmultiple;
attributebooleannoValidate;
attributeDOMStringpattern;
attributeDOMStringplaceholder;
attributebooleanreadOnly;
attributebooleanrequired;
attributeunsignedlongsize;
attributeDOMStringstep;
attributeDOMStringdefaultValue;
attributeDatevalueAsDate;
attributefloatvalueAsNumber;
readonlyattributeHTMLOptionElementselectedOption;
checked
disabled
enctype
form
height
list
max
maxlength
method
min
multiple
name
novalidate
pattern
placeholder
readonly
required
size
src
step
target
voidstepUp(inlongn);
voidstepDown(inlongn);
type
value
width
readonlyattributeNodeListlabels;
voidselect();
attributeunsignedlongselectionStart;
attributeunsignedlongselectionEnd;
voidsetSelectionRange(inunsignedlongstart,inunsignedlongend);
};
4.3.10.5Thebuttonelement
Thebuttonelementrepresentsabutton.Iftheelementisnotdisabled,thentheuseragentshouldallowtheusertoactivatethe
button.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Interactivecontent.
Listed,labelable,andsubmittableformassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent,buttheremustbenointeractivecontentdescendant.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
action
autofocus
disabled
enctype
form
method
name
novalidate
target
type
value
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLButtonElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringnoValidate;
};
4.3.10.6Theselectelement
Theselectelementrepresentsacontrolforselectingamongstasetofoptions.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Zeroormoreoptionoroptgroupelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
[Callable=namedItem]
interfaceHTMLSelectElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleanmultiple;
attributebooleansize;
autofocus
disabled
form
multiple
name
size
readonlyattributeHTMLOptionsCollectionoptions;
attributeunsignedlonglength;
[IndexGetter]anyitem(inDOMStringname);
[NameGetter]anynamedItem(inDOMStringname);
voidadd(inHTMLElementelement,inHTMLElementbefore);
voidadd(inHTMLElementelement,inlongbefore);
voidremove(inlongindex);
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionselectedOptions;
attributelongselectedIndex;
};
4.3.10.7Thedatalistelement
Thedatalistelementrepresentsasetofoptionelementsthatrepresentpredefinedoptionsforothercontrols.Thecontentsofthe
elementrepresentsfallbackcontentforlegacyuseragents,intermixedwithoptionelementsthatrepresentthepredefined
options.Intherendering,thedatalistelementrepresentsnothingandit,alongwithitschildren,shouldbehidden.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Either:phrasingcontent.
Or:Zeroormoreoptionelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLDataListElement:HTMLElement{
readonlyattributeHTMLCollectionoptions;
};
4.3.10.8Theoptgroupelement
Theoptgroupelementrepresentsagroupofoptionelementswithacommonlabel.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofaselectelement.
ContentModel:
Zeroormoreoptionelements.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLOptGroupElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringlabel;
};
disabled
label
4.3.10.9Theoptionelement
Theoptionelementrepresentsanoptioninaselectelementoraspartofalistofsuggestionsinadatalistelement.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asachildofaselectelement.
Asachildofadatalistelement.
Asachildofanoptgroupelement.
ContentModel:
Text.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Global
attributes
disabled
label
selected
value
[NamedConstructor=Option(),
NamedConstructor=Option(inDOMStringtext),
NamedConstructor=Option(inDOMStringtext,inDOMStringvalue),
NamedConstructor=Option(inDOMStringtext,inDOMStringvalue,inbooleandefaultSelected),
NamedConstructor=Option(inDOMStringtext,inDOMStringvalue,inbooleandefaultSelected,inbooleanselected)]
interfaceHTMLOptionElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleandefaultSelected;
attributebooleanselected;
readonlyattributeDOMStringtext;
readonlyattributelongindex;
};
4.3.10.10Thetextareaelement
Thetextareaelementrepresentsamultilineplaintexteditcontrolfortheelementsrawvalue.Thecontentsofthecontrol
representthecontrolsdefaultvalue.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Text.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
autofocus
cols
disabled
form
maxlength
name
readonly
required
rows
wrap
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLTextAreaElement:HTMLElement{
attributeunsignedlongcols;
attributelongmaxLength;
attributebooleanreadOnly;
attributebooleanrequired;
attributeunsignedlongrows;
attributeDOMStringwrap;
voidselect();
attributeunsignedlongselectionStart;
attributeunsignedlongselectionEnd;
voidsetSelectionRange(inunsignedlongstart,inunsignedlongend);
};
4.3.10.11Theoutputelement
Theoutputelementrepresentstheresultofacalculation.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Listedandresettableformassociatedelement.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLOutputElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringhtmlFor;
for
form
name
};
4.3.11InteractiveElements
4.3.11.1Thedetailselement
Thedetailselementrepresentsadditionalinformationorcontrolswhichtheusercanobtainondemand.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Onelegendelementfollowedbyflowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLDetailsElement:HTMLElement{
attributebooleanopen;
};
open
4.3.11.2Thecommandelement
Thecommandelementrepresentsacommandthattheusercaninvoke.
Categories:
Metadatacontent.
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Empty.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
type
label
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLCommandElement:HTMLElement{
attributeDOMStringicon;
attributebooleanchecked;
attributeDOMStringradiogroup;
attributebooleandefault;
voidclick();//shadowsHTMLElement.click()
};
icon
disabled
checked
radiogroup
default
element.
TheCommandinterfacemustalsobeimplementedbythis
element.
4.3.11.3Thebbelement
Thebbelementrepresentsauseragentcommandthattheusercaninvoke.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Phrasingcontent.
Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent,buttheremustbenointeractivecontentdescendant.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLBrowserButtonElement:HTMLElement{
readonlyattributebooleansupported;
readonlyattributebooleandisabled;
};
type
TheCommandinterfacemustalsobeimplementedbythis
element.
4.3.11.4Themenuelement
Themenuelementrepresentsalistofcommands.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
Iftheelement'stypeattributeisinthetoolbarstate:Interactivecontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Either:Zeroormorelielements.
Or:Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
interfaceHTMLMenuElement:HTMLElement{
};
type
label
4.3.12MiscellaneousElements
4.3.12.1Thelegendelement
Thelegendelementrepresentsatitleorexplanatorycaptionfortherestofthecontentsofthelegendelementsparentelement.
Categories:
None.
ContainedBy:
Asthefirstchildofafieldsetelement.
Asthefirstchildofadetailselement.
Asachildofafigureelement,iftherearenootherlegendelementchildrenofthatelement.
ContentModel:
Phrasingcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
Globalattributes
DOMINTERFACE
interfaceHTMLLegendElement:HTMLElement{
};
Element StartTag EndTag

4.3.12.2Thedivelement
ShortDescription
Notes
Thedivelementrepresentsnothingatall.Itcanbeusedwiththeclass,lang/xml:lang,andtitleattributestomarkupsemantics
commontoagroupofconsecutiveelements.
Categories:
Flowcontent.
ContainedBy:
ContentModel:
Flowcontent.
ATTRIBUTES
DOMINTERFACE
Globalattributes
UsesHTMLElement.
4.4Microdata
...
5IndexofElements
5.1ConformingElements
ShortDescription
a
required required Hyperlink
abbr
required required Abbreviation
address
area
required required Contactinformation

required empty Imagemapregion
article
required required Independentsection
aside
required required Auxiliarysection
audio
required required Audiostream
b
base
required required Boldtext

required empty DocumentbaseURI
bb
required required Browserbutton
bdo
required required Bidirectionaltextoverride
blockquote
required required Longquotation
body
br
optional optional Maincontent

required empty Linebreak
button
required required Pushbuttoncontrol
canvas
required required Bitmapcanvas
caption
cite
required required Tablecaption

required required Citation
code
required required Codefragment
col
required empty
colgroup
required optional Tablecolumngroup
command
datagrid
required empty Commandthatausercaninvoke

required required Interactivetree,listortabulardata
datalist
required required Predefinedcontrolvalues
dd
required optional Descriptiondescription
del
required required Deletion
details
dfn
required required Additionalinformation

required required Defininginstanceofaterm
dialog
required required Conversation
div
required required Genericdivision
dl
required required Descriptionlist
dt
em
required optional Descriptionterm

required required Stressemphasis
embed
required empty
fieldset
required required Formcontrolgroup
figure
required required Afigurewithacaption.
footer
required required Sectionfooter
Tablecolumn
Embeddedapplication
Notes

form
required required Form
ShortDescription
h1
required required Headinglevel1
h2
h3
h4
h5

h6
head
optional optional Documenthead
header
required required Sectionheader
hr
html
required empty Separator

optional optional Documentroot
required required Italictext
iframe
required required Inlineframe
img
required empty
input
ins
required empty Formcontrol

required required Insertion
kbd
required required Userinput
label
required required Formcontrollabel
legend
li
required required Explanatorytitleorcaption

required optional Listitem
link
required empty
map
required required Clientsideimagemap
mark
required required Markedorhighlightedtext
menu
meta
required required Commandmenu

required empty Metadata
meter
required required Scalarmeasurement
nav
required required Navigation
noscript
required required Alternativecontentfornoscriptsupport
object
ol
required required Genericembeddedresource

required required Orderedlist
optgroup
required optional Optiongroup
option
required optional Selectionchoice
output
required required Outputcontrol
p
param
required optional Paragraph

required empty Pluginparameter
pre
required required Preformattedtext
progress
required required Progressofatask
required required Inlinequotation
rp
rt
required required Rubyparenthesis

required required Rubytext
ruby
required required Rubyannotation
samp
required required Sampleoutput
script
required required Linkedorembeddedscript
section
select
required required Documentsection

required required Selectioncontrol
small
required required Smallprint
source
required empty
span
required required Genericinlinecontainer
strong
style
required required Strongimportance

required required Embeddedstylesheet
sub
required required Subscript
sup
required required Superscript
table
required required Table
tbody
td
optional optional Tablebody

required optional Tablecell
textarea
required required Multilinetextcontrol
tfoot
optional optional Tablefooter
Image
Linktoresources
Mediaresource
Notes
Theheadinglevelisalsoaffectedbysectioningelements
Start
Short ShortDescription
Element
Element
StartTag
EndTag
HTML4.01/XHTML1.0
HTML5
Element
EndTag
Tag
Description
th
required optional Tableheadercell
thead
optional optional Tablehead
time
required required Dateand/ortime
title
tr
required required Documenttitle

required optional Tablerow
ul
required required Unorderedlist
var
required required Variable
video
required required Videoormovie
ShortDescription
Notes
Notes
5.2ObsoleteElements
Theseelementsareobsoleteandshouldnotbeusedbyauthors.However,theyaredocumentedherebecausetheyaresupported
bybrowsers,alongwithnotesaboutconformingalternativesthatmaybeusedinstead.
Thislistmaybeincomplete.Pleasereportanymissingelements.
acronym
Start
Short
EndTag
Tag
Description
required required Acronym
Usetheabbrelement
applet
required required Javaapplet
basefont
required empty
bgsound
required empty
Usetheaudioelement.
big
required required
UseasemanticallyappropriateelementwithCSSforstyle.
blink
required required
CSSprovidesanalternativewithlimitedbrowsersupport,butnotethatblinkingtextis
annoying.
center
required required
dir
font
required required
required required Fontstyle
Usetheulelement.
frame
required required
ConsiderusingCSSlayoutsortheiframeelement.
frameset
required required
ConsiderusingCSSlayoutsortheiframeelement.
isindex
required required
Useaformwithatextinputandsubmitbutton.
listing
required required
marquee
nobr
required required
required required
noembed
required required
noframes
required required
plaintext
required required
required required
spacer
required required
strike
required required
tt
required required Teletype
Considerusingthecodeelement,ifappropriate,oranothersemanticallyappropriate
elementwithCSSforstyle.
required required
wbr
required empty
xmp
required required
Element
Basefont
style
Notes
Usetheobjectelement.
Thishaslimitedsupportinbrowsers.UseCSSinstead.
Preformatted
Usethepreelement.
text
ScriptingorCSSanimationscanbeusedtosimulatescrollingtext.
Preformatted
Usethepreelement.
text
Considerusingthedelelement,ifappropriate,oranothersemanticallyappropriate
UseCSSlayouttechniques.
Considerusingthedelelement,ifappropriate,oranothersemanticallyappropriate
Preformatted
Usethepreelement.
text
5.3ComparisonofHTML4.01andHTML5Elements
a
Element
strict
HTML4.01/XHTML1.0
HTML5
yes
Hyperlink
ShortDescription
abbr
acronym
strict
strict
yes
Abbreviation
Acronym
address
strict
yes
Contactinformation
applet
transitional
Javaapplet
area
strict
yes
Imagemapregion
Element
HTML4.01/XHTML1.0
article
HTML5
yes
ShortDescription
aside
yes
Auxiliarysection
audio
yes
Audiostream
b
base
strict
strict
yes
yes
Boldtext
DocumentbaseURI
basefont
transitional
Basefontstyle
bb
yes
Browserbutton
bdo
strict
yes
Bidirectionaltextoverride
bgsound
big
strict
blink
blockquote
strict
yes
Longquotation
body
strict
yes
Maincontent
br
button
strict
strict
yes
yes
Linebreak
Pushbuttoncontrol
canvas
yes
Bitmapcanvas
caption
strict
yes
Tablecaption
center
transitional
cite
code
strict
strict
yes
yes
Citation
Codefragment
col
strict
yes
Tablecolumn
colgroup
strict
yes
Tablecolumngroup
command
yes
Commandthatausercaninvoke
datagrid
datalist
yes
yes
Interactivetree,listortabulardata
Predefinedcontrolvalues
dd
strict
yes
Descriptiondescription
del
strict
yes
Deletion
details
yes
Additionalinformation
dfn
dialog
strict
yes
yes
Defininginstanceofaterm
Conversation
dir
transitional
div
strict
yes
Genericdivision
dl
strict
yes
Descriptionlist
dt
em
strict
strict
yes
yes
Descriptionterm
Stressemphasis
embed
yes
Embeddedapplication
fieldset
strict
yes
Formcontrolgroup
figure
yes
Afigurewithacaption.
font
footer
transitional
yes
Fontstyle
Sectionfooter
form
strict
yes
Form
frame
frameset
frameset
frameset
h1
h2
strict
strict
yes
yes
Headinglevel1
Headinglevel2
h3
strict
yes
Headinglevel3
h4
strict
yes
Headinglevel4
h5
strict
yes
Headinglevel5
h6
head
strict
strict
yes
yes
Headinglevel6
Documenthead
header
yes
Sectionheader
hr
strict
yes
Separator
html
strict
yes
Documentroot
i
iframe
strict
transitional
yes
yes
Italictext
Inlineframe
img
strict
yes
Image
input
strict
yes
Formcontrol
Independentsection
Element
HTML4.01/XHTML1.0
ins
strict
HTML5
yes
ShortDescription
isindex
transitional
kbd
strict
yes
Userinput
label
legend
strict
strict
yes
yes
Formcontrollabel
Explanatorytitleorcaption
li
strict
yes
Listitem
link
strict
yes
Linktoresources
listing
Preformattedtext
map
mark
strict
yes
yes
Clientsideimagemap
Markedorhighlightedtext
marquee
menu
transitional
yes
Commandmenu
meta
strict
yes
Metadata
meter
nav
yes
yes
Scalarmeasurement
Navigation
nobr
noembed
noframes
frameset
noscript
object
strict
strict
yes
yes
Alternativecontentfornoscriptsupport
Genericembeddedresource
ol
strict
yes
Orderedlist
optgroup
strict
yes
Optiongroup
option
strict
yes
Selectionchoice
output
p
strict
yes
yes
Outputcontrol
Paragraph
param
strict
yes
Pluginparameter
plaintext
Preformattedtext
pre
strict
yes
Preformattedtext
progress
q
strict
yes
yes
Progressofatask
Inlinequotation
rp
yes
Rubyparenthesis
rt
yes
Rubytext
ruby
yes
Rubyannotation
s
samp
transitional
strict
yes
Sampleoutput
script
strict
yes
Linkedorembeddedscript
section
yes
Documentsection
select
strict
yes
Selectioncontrol
small
source
strict
yes
yes
Smallprint
Mediaresource
spacer
span
strict
yes
Genericinlinecontainer
strike
strong
transitional
strict
yes
Strongimportance
style
strict
yes
Embeddedstylesheet
sub
strict
yes
Subscript
sup
strict
yes
Superscript
table
tbody
strict
strict
yes
yes
Table
Tablebody
td
strict
yes
Tablecell
textarea
strict
yes
Multilinetextcontrol
tfoot
strict
yes
Tablefooter
th
thead
strict
strict
yes
yes
Tableheadercell
Tablehead
time
yes
Dateand/ortime
title
strict
yes
Documenttitle
tr
strict
yes
Tablerow
Insertion
Element
u
HTML4.01/XHTML1.0
transitional
HTML5
ShortDescription
ul
strict
yes
Unorderedlist
var
strict
yes
Variable
video
yes
Videoormovie
wbr
xmp
Preformattedtext
6HowtoReadThisGuide
Thissectionneedsmajorrevisionandmaybedropped.
6.1Conventions
Toeasereadabilityandimproveunderstanding,thisdocumentusesanumberofconventions.
6.1.1Notes,TipsandWarnings
Notesareusedthroughoutthisdocumenttoprovideadditionalinformation.Tipsareusedtoprovideusefulhintsandsuggestions.
Warningsareusedtopointoutcommonauthoringerrorsandhighlightimportantissuestobeawareof.
[Needtoprovideexamplesofthese]
6.1.2ExampleMarkup
ExamplemarkupisprovidedforbothHTMLandXHTML.Insomecases,themarkupisthesameandthusonlyoneexampleis
needed,butinotherstheremaybedifferencessyntacticdifferences.WhereHTMLandXHTMLdiffer,separateexamplesaregiven
witheachoneclearlylabelled.
HTMLExample:
<!DOCTYPEhtml>
<htmllang="en">
<head>
<title>HTMLExample</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>ThisisasampleHTMLdocument.
</body>
</html>
XHTMLExample:
<htmlxmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"xml:lang="en">
<head>
<title>XHTMLExample</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>ThisisasampleXHTMLdocument.</p>
</body>
</html>
Sometimes,erroneousexamplesareincluded.Thisisusuallydonetoillustratecommonauthoringerrors,badpracticesandother
issuestobecautiousof.
ErroneousExample:
<p>Thismarkupcontainsa<em><strong>mistake</em></strong></p>
6.1.2.1Attributes
Unlessexplicitlystatedotherwiseforaspecificpurpose,allattributevaluesinexamplesarequotedusingdoublequotes.InHTML
examples,booleanattributesarewrittenintheirminimisedformandinXHTMLexamples,theyarewritteninexpandedform.
HTMLExample:
<inputtype="checkbox"checked>
XHTMLExample:
<inputtype="checkbox"checked="checked"/>
6.1.2.2VoidElements
InXHTMLexamples,duetotheXMLWellFormednessrequirements,voidelementsarealwaysmarkedupusingthetrailingslash.
XHTMLExample:
<imgsrc="image.png"alt="example"/>
InHTML,however,thetrailingslashisoptionaland,unlessexplicitlystatedotherwise,isalwaysomitted.
HTMLExample:
<imgsrc="image.png"alt="example">
6.1.2.3Namespaces
SomeXHTMLexamplesmakeuseofXMLnamespaces.Insuchcases,thefollowingprefixesareassumedtobedefinedevenif
thereisnoxmlnsattributesinthefragmentofcode.
xml
http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace
html
http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml
math
http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML
svg
http://www.w3.org/2000/svg
XHTMLExample:
<htmlxml:lang="en">
...
</html>
XHTMLExample:
<div>
<svg:svg><svg:circler="50"cx="50"cy="50"fill="green"/></svg:svg>
</div>

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Available Formats

HTML5Reference

Element StartTag EndTag

required required Abbreviation

required required Contactinformation

required required Independentsection

required required Auxiliarysection

required required Audiostream

required required Boldtext

required required Browserbutton

required required Bidirectionaltextoverride

required required Longquotation

optional optional Maincontent

required required Pushbuttoncontrol

required required Bitmapcanvas

required required Tablecaption

required required Codefragment

required optional Tablecolumngroup

required empty Commandthatausercaninvoke

required required Predefinedcontrolvalues

required optional Descriptiondescription

required required Deletion

required required Additionalinformation

required required Conversation

required required Genericdivision

required required Descriptionlist

required optional Descriptionterm

required required Formcontrolgroup

required required Afigurewithacaption.

required required Sectionfooter

Element StartTag EndTag

required required Headinglevel1

required required Headinglevel2

required required Headinglevel3

required required Headinglevel4

required required Headinglevel6

optional optional Documenthead

required required Sectionheader

required empty Separator

required required Italictext

required required Inlineframe

required empty Formcontrol

required required Userinput

required required Formcontrollabel

required required Explanatorytitleorcaption

required required Clientsideimagemap

required required Markedorhighlightedtext

required required Commandmenu

required required Scalarmeasurement

required required Navigation

required required Alternativecontentfornoscriptsupport

required required Genericembeddedresource

required optional Optiongroup

required optional Selectionchoice

required required Outputcontrol

required optional Paragraph

required required Preformattedtext

required required Progressofatask

required required Inlinequotation

required required Rubyparenthesis

required required Rubyannotation

required required Sampleoutput

required required Linkedorembeddedscript

required required Documentsection

required required Smallprint