HTML Attributes
- HTML elements can have attributes
- Attributes provide additional information about an element
- Attributes are always specified in the start tag
- Attributes come in name/value pairs like: name="value"
The lang Attribute
The document language can be declared in the <html> tag.
The language is declared in the lang attribute.
Declaring a language is important for accessibility applications (screen readers) and search engines:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
<html lang="en-US">
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
The first two letter specifies the language (en). If there is a dialect, use two more letters (US).
The title Attribute
HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.
In this example, the <p> element has a title attribute. The value of the attribute is "About W3Schools":
Example
<p title="About W3Schools">
W3Schools is a web developer's site.
It provides tutorials and references covering
many aspects of web programming,
including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL, PHP, ASP, etc.
</p>
W3Schools is a web developer's site.
It provides tutorials and references covering
many aspects of web programming,
including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL, PHP, ASP, etc.
</p>
Try it Yourself »
 | When you move the mouse over the element, the title will be displayed as a tooltip. |
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The href Attribute
HTML links are defined with the <a> tag. The link address is specified in the href attribute:
You will learn more about links and the <a> tag later in this tutorial.
Size Attributes
HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.
The filename of the source (src), and the size of the image (width and height) are all provided as attributes:
The image size is specified in pixels: width="104" means 104 screen pixels wide.
You will learn more about images and the <img> tag later in this tutorial.
The alt Attribute
The alt attribute specifies an alternative text to be used, when an HTML element cannot be displayed.
The value of the attribute can be read by "screen readers". This way, someone "listening" to the webpage, i.e. a blind person, can "hear" the element.