HTML 4.01 / XHTML 1.0 Reference

Ordered Alphabetically

DTD: indicates in which XHTML 1.0 DTD the tag is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset

Tag	Description	DTD
<!--...-->	Defines a comment	STF
<!DOCTYPE>	Defines the document type	STF
<a>	Defines an anchor	STF
<abbr>	Defines an abbreviation	STF
<acronym>	Defines an acronym	STF
<address>	Defines an address element	STF
<applet>	Deprecated. Defines an applet	TF
<area>	Defines an area inside an image map	STF
<b>	Defines bold text	STF
<base>	Defines a base URL for all the links in a page	STF
<basefont>	Deprecated. Defines a base font	TF
<bdo>	Defines the direction of text display	STF
<big>	Defines big text	STF
<blockquote>	Defines a long quotation	STF
<body>	Defines the body element	STF
<br>	Inserts a single line break	STF
<button>	Defines a push button	STF
<caption>	Defines a table caption	STF
<center>	Deprecated. Defines centered text	TF
<cite>	Defines a citation	STF
<code>	Defines computer code text	STF
<col>	Defines attributes for table columns	STF
<colgroup>	Defines groups of table columns	STF
<dd>	Defines a definition description	STF
<del>	Defines deleted text	STF
<dir>	Deprecated. Defines a directory list	TF
<div>	Defines a section in a document	STF
<dfn>	Defines a definition term	STF
<dl>	Defines a definition list	STF
<dt>	Defines a definition term	STF
<em>	Defines emphasized text	STF
<fieldset>	Defines a fieldset	STF
<font>	Deprecated. Defines text font, size, and color	TF
<form>	Defines a form	STF
<frame>	Defines a sub window (a frame)	F
<frameset>	Defines a set of frames	F
<h1> to <h6>	Defines header 1 to header 6	STF
<head>	Defines information about the document	STF
<hr>	Defines a horizontal rule	STF
<html>	Defines an html document	STF
<i>	Defines italic text	STF
<iframe>	Defines an inline sub window (frame)	TF
<img>	Defines an image	STF
<input>	Defines an input field	STF
<ins>	Defines inserted text	STF
<isindex>	Deprecated. Defines a single-line input field	TF
<kbd>	Defines keyboard text	STF
<label>	Defines a label for a form control	STF
<legend>	Defines a title in a fieldset	STF
<li>	Defines a list item	STF
<link>	Defines a resource reference	STF
<map>	Defines an image map	STF
<menu>	Deprecated. Defines a menu list	TF
<meta>	Defines meta information	STF
<noframes>	Defines a noframe section	TF
<noscript>	Defines a noscript section	STF
<object>	Defines an embedded object	STF
<ol>	Defines an ordered list	STF
<optgroup>	Defines an option group	STF
<option>	Defines an option in a drop-down list	STF
<p>	Defines a paragraph	STF
<param>	Defines a parameter for an object	STF
<pre>	Defines preformatted text	STF
<q>	Defines a short quotation	STF
<s>	Deprecated. Defines strikethrough text	TF
<samp>	Defines sample computer code	STF
<script>	Defines a script	STF
<select>	Defines a selectable list	STF
<small>	Defines small text	STF
<span>	Defines a section in a document	STF
<strike>	Deprecated. Defines strikethrough text	TF
<strong>	Defines strong text	STF
<style>	Defines a style definition	STF
<sub>	Defines subscripted text	STF
<sup>	Defines superscripted text	STF
<table>	Defines a table	STF
<tbody>	Defines a table body	STF
<td>	Defines a table cell	STF
<textarea>	Defines a text area	STF
<tfoot>	Defines a table footer	STF
<th>	Defines a table header	STF
<thead>	Defines a table header	STF
<title>	Defines the document title	STF
<tr>	Defines a table row	STF
<tt>	Defines teletype text	STF
<u>	Deprecated. Defines underlined text	TF
<ul>	Defines an unordered list	STF
<var>	Defines a variable	STF
<xmp>	Deprecated. Defines preformatted text

HTML Event Attributes

New to HTML 4.0 was the ability to let HTML events trigger actions in the browser, like starting a JavaScript when a user clicks on an HTML element. Below is a list of attributes that can be inserted into HTML tags to define event actions.

If you want to learn more about programming with these events, you should study our JavaScript tutorial and our DHTML tutorial.

Window Events

Only valid in body and frameset elements

Attribute	Value	Description
onload	script	Script to be run when a document loads
onunload	script	Script to be run when a document unloads

Form Element Events

Only valid in form elements.

Attribute	Value	Description
onchange	script	Script to be run when the element changes
onsubmit	script	Script to be run when the form is submitted
onreset	script	Script to be run when the form is reset
onselect	script	Script to be run when the element is selected
onblur	script	Script to be run when the element loses focus
onfocus	script	Script to be run when the element gets focus

Keyboard Events

Not valid in base, bdo, br, frame, frameset, head, html, iframe, meta, param, script, style, and title elements.

Attribute	Value	Description
onkeydown	script	What to do when key is pressed
onkeypress	script	What to do when key is pressed and released
onkeyup	script	What to do when key is released

Mouse Events

Not valid in base, bdo, br, frame, frameset, head, html, iframe, meta, param, script, style, and title elements.

Attribute	Value	Description
onclick	script	What to do on a mouse click
ondblclick	script	What to do on a mouse doubleclick
onmousedown	script	What to do when mouse button is pressed
onmousemove	script	What to do when mouse pointer moves
onmouseover	script	What to do when mouse pointer moves over an element
onmouseout	script	What to do when mouse pointer moves out of an element
onmouseup	script	What to do when mouse button is released

Core Attributes

Not valid in base, head, html, meta, param, script, style, and title elements.

Attribute	Value	Description
class	class_rule or style_rule	The class of the element
id	id_name	A unique id for the element
style	style_definition	An inline style definition
title	tooltip_text	A text to display in a tool tip

Language Attributes

Not valid in base, br, frame, frameset, hr, iframe, param, and script elements.

Attribute	Value	Description
dir	ltr \| rtl	Sets the text direction
lang	language_code	Sets the language code

Keyboard Attributes

Attribute	Value	Description
accesskey	character	Sets a keyboard shortcut to access an element
tabindex	number	Sets the tab order of an element