HTML attributes provide additional information about HTML elements.
HTML Attributes
- All HTML elements can have attributes
- Attributes provide additional information about elements
- Attributes are always specified in the start tag
- Attributes usually come in name/value pairs like: name=”value”
The href Attribute
The <a> tag defines a hyperlink. The href attribute specifies the URL of the page the link goes to:
Example
<a href=”https://www.w3schools.com”>Visit W3Schools</a>
The src Attribute
The <img> tag is used to embed an image in an HTML page. The src attribute specifies the path to the image to be displayed:
Example
<img src=”img_girl.jpg”>
The width and height Attributes
The <img> tag should also contain the width and height attributes, which specifies the width and height of the image (in pixels):
Example
<img src=”img_girl.jpg” width=”500″ height=”600″>
The alt Attribute
The required alt attribute for the <img> tag specifies an alternate text for an image, if the image for some reason cannot be displayed. This can be due to slow connection, or an error in the src attribute, or if the user uses a screen reader.
Example
<img src=”img_girl.jpg” alt=”Girl with a jacket”>
Example
See what happens if we try to display an image that does not exist:<img src=”img_typo.jpg” alt=”Girl with a jacket”>
The style Attribute
The style attribute is used to add styles to an element, such as color, font, size, and more.
Example
<p style=”color:red;”>This is a red paragraph.</p>
The lang Attribute
You should always include the lang attribute inside the <html> tag, to declare the language of the Web page. This is meant to assist search engines and browsers.
The following example specifies English as the language:<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=”en”>
<body>
…
</body>
</html>
Country codes can also be added to the language code in the lang attribute. So, the first two characters define the language of the HTML page, and the last two characters define the country.
The following example specifies English as the language and United States as the country:<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=”en-US”>
<body>
…
</body>
</html>
The title Attribute
The title attribute defines some extra information about an element.
The value of the title attribute will be displayed as a tooltip when you mouse over the element:
Example
<p title=”I’m a tooltip”>This is a paragraph.</p>
We Suggest: Always Use Lowercase Attributes
The HTML standard does not require lowercase attribute names.
The title attribute (and all other attributes) can be written with uppercase or lowercase like title or TITLE.
However, W3C recommends lowercase attributes in HTML, and demands lowercase attributes for stricter document types like XHTML.
At W3Schools we always use lowercase attribute names.
We Suggest: Always Quote Attribute Values
The HTML standard does not require quotes around attribute values.
However, W3C recommends quotes in HTML, and demands quotes for stricter document types like XHTML.
Good:
<a href=”https://www.w3schools.com/html/”>Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
Bad:
<a href=https://www.w3schools.com/html/>Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
Sometimes you have to use quotes. This example will not display the title attribute correctly, because it contains a space:
Example
<p title=About W3Schools>
At W3Schools we always use quotes around attribute values.
Single or Double Quotes?
Double quotes around attribute values are the most common in HTML, but single quotes can also be used.
In some situations, when the attribute value itself contains double quotes, it is necessary to use single quotes:<p title=’John “ShotGun” Nelson’>
Or vice versa:<p title=”John ‘ShotGun’ Nelson”>
