Beginning HTML and CSS

Appendix B

HTML Element Reference

This appendix is a quick reference to the elements in the W3C HTML5 Candidate Recommendation. They are listed with the attributes each element can carry and a brief description of their purpose.

Note that if an attribute can be “empty,” that means it can be set without a value. For instance,

<span contenteditable> ... </span>

Also, obsolete attributes are not included here. They are listed in Appendix I, “Changes between HTML4 and HTML5,” for your reference.

Core Attributes

Unless otherwise stated, the core attributes can be used with all the elements in this appendix.

accesskey = list_of_key_labels	Defines a space-separated list of hotkeys/keyboard shortcuts for the current element.
class = list_of_class_names	Specifies a space-separated list of CSS classes for the current element.
contenteditable = true | false | "" | empty	Indicates whether the element is editable by the user.
contextmenu = id	Specifies the id of an HTML element to serve as a context menu for the current element.
dir = ltr | rtl | auto	Defines a unique identification value for that element within the document.
draggable = true | false	Specifies whether the element should be draggable.
dropzone = copy | move | link	Specifies which kind of content can be dropped on an element.
hidden = hidden | "" | empty	The boolean attribute indicates whether the element is hidden.
id = id	Specifies a unique identifier for an element.
lang = language_tag	Specifies the (human) language for ...