HTML5 Global Attributes

Each HTML5 element supports a number of attributes. The attributes listed here are common to all HTML5 elements.

Attribute Description

accesskey

Specifies a shortcut key that can be used to access the element.

Possible values.

[Any string of characters. This string of characters specifies the key/s the user needs to use in order to access the element.]

class

Document wide identifier. Used to refer to a class specified in the style sheet. The value should be the name of the class you wish to use.

For more information, see CSS class.

contenteditable

Sets whether the user can edit the content or not.

Possible values:

true
false

contextmenu Sets a context menu for an element. The value must be the ID of a menu element in the DOM

dir

Specifies the direction of the text.

Possible values:

Value	Description
ltr	Specifies that the text should read left to right.
rtl	Specifies that the text should read right to left.
auto	Specifies that the text direction should be determined programatically using the contents of the element.

draggable

Specifies whether the user is allowed to drag the element or not.

Possible values:

true
false
auto

Value	Description
true	Specifies that the element is draggable.
false	Specifies that the element is not draggable.
auto	Uses the default behavior of the user agent/browser. This is the default value.

dropzone

Specifies what should happen when the user "drops" an element (i.e. after dragging it) onto the current element.

Must be an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are ASCII case-insensitive.

Possible values:

Value	Description
copy	Results in a copy of the dragged data. Default value.
move	Results in the data being moved to the new location.
link	Results in a link to the original data.
Any keyword with eight characters or more, beginning with the an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "`string:`"	Specifies that items with the drag data item kind Plain Unicode string and the drag data item type string set to a value that matches the remainder of the keyword are accepted.
Any keyword with six characters or more, beginning with an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "`file:`"	Allows you to specify which file types can be processed (i.e. copied, moved or linked) in this dropzone. Example: `dropzone="copy file:image/png file:image/gif file:image/jpeg"`

Note that this attribute must not have more than one of the three feedback values (copy, move, and link) specified. If none are specified, the copy value is implied.

hidden

Indicates that the element is not yet, or is no longer, relevant. The browser/user agent does not display elements that have the hidden attribute present.

This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either hidden or hidden="hidden").

Possible values:

[Empty string]
hidden

Document wide identifier. Used with CSS and JavaScript. The value should be the name of the id you wish to use.

For more information, see CSS id.

inert

Boolean attribute that indicates that the element is to be made inert. This means that the browser/user agent acts as though the element is not there, even though it may still display the element.

For example, a block of text that has been marked with the inert attribute may not be searchable when the user attempts a browser text search (eg, commonly called "Find in page" or similar). The text may not be able to be targetted for user interaction events (such as mouseover etc), and the user may not be able to select the block of text.

Possible values:

[Empty string]
inert

itemid

Provides a global identifier for an "item". The itemid attribute is optional, however if it is provided, it must have a value that is a valid URL potentially surrounded by spaces.

The itemid attribute can only be present in elements that include both the itemscope and the itemtype attributes, as long as the itemtype attribute specifies a vocabulary that supports global identifiers for items, as defined by that vocabulary's specification.

itemprop

Provides one or more properties to one or more "items".

Although the itemprop attribute is optional and can be used on any HTML element, if used it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, representing the names of the name-value pairs that it adds. The attribute's value must have at least one token. According to the HTML5 specification, each token must be one of the following:

A valid URL that is an absolute URL, or
If the item is a typed item: a "defined property name" allowed in this situation according to the specification that defines the relevant types for the item, or
If the item is not a typed item: a string that contains no U+002E FULL STOP characters (.) and no U+003A COLON characters (:).

Also, Specifications that introduce defined property names that are not absolute URLs must ensure all such property names contain no U+002E FULL STOP characters (.), no U+003A COLON characters (:), and no space characters.

itemref

Used in conjunction with the itemscope attribute, the itemref attribute provides a list of additional elements to crawl to find the name-value pairs of the "item". Although the itemref attribute is optional, if specified, it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, consisting of IDs of elements in the same home subtree. Also, the itemref can only be used on elements that also have the itemscope attribute present.

itemscope

HTML5 elements that have the itemscope attribute create a name-value pair called an "item". Elements with an itemscope attribute may also have an itemtype attribute specified, to give the item types of the item.

Possible values:

[Empty string]
itemscope

itemtype

Provides an item type for elements containing the itemscope attribute. The itemtype attribute is optional however, if it is specified, it must have a value that is an unordered set of unique space-separated tokens that are case-sensitive, each of which is a valid URL that is an absolute URL, and all of which are defined to use the same vocabulary. The attribute's value must have at least one token.

The itemtype attribute must only be present in elements that include the itemscope attribute.

lang

Sets the language code to be used.

Possible values:

[Must be a valid RFC 3066 language code, or an empty string.]

spellcheck

Specifies whether the element should have its spelling checked.

Value	Description
[Empty string]	The element should have its spelling checked.
true	The element should have its spelling checked.
false	The element should not have its spelling checked.

If this attribute is missing, the element will use the default behavior, possibly based on the parent's own spellcheck state.

style

Specifies inline styles for the element. The value should be the style definition you wish to use.

For more information, see inline style sheets.

tabindex

Helps determine the tabbing order (when the user 'tabs' through the elements on the page).

Possible values:

[Any valid integer. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...etc]

title

Specifies a title to associate with the element. Many browsers will display this when the cursor hovers over the element (similar to a "tool tip").

Possible values:

[Any text to be displayed as a "tool tip".]

translate

Specifies whether the element's attribute values and the values of its Text node children are to be translated when the page is localized, or whether to leave them unchanged.

The translate attribute is an enumerated attribute and may contain the following possible values:

[Empty String]
yes
no

If the translate attribute is provided, but its value is missing or is invalid, the element will inherit its value from its parent element.

Most HTML Elements

The following event handler attributes are supported by all HTML elements, as both content attributes and DOM attributes, and on Window objects, as DOM attributes: