ExampleA simple HTML document, with the minimum of required tags: <html> <head> <title>Title of the document</title> </head> <body> The content of the document...... </body> </html> | Browser Support |
1. Definition and Usage
The <html> tag tells the browser that this is an HTML document.
The <html> element is also known as the root element.
The <html> tag is the container for all other HTML elements (except for the<!DOCTYPE> tag).
2. Differences Between HTML and XHTML
The xmlns attribute is required in XHTML, but invalid in HTML.
However, the HTML validator at http://www.w3.org does not complain when the xmlns attribute is missing in an XHTML document. This is because the namespace "xmlns=http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" is default, and will be added to the <html> tag even if you do not include it.
3. Required Attributes
DTD indicates in which HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 DTD the attribute is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.
| Attribute | Value | Description | DTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| xmlns | http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml | Specifies the namespace to use (only for XHTML documents!) | STF |
4. Standard Attributes
The <html> tag supports the following standard attributes:
| Attribute | Value | Description | DTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| dir | rtl ltr | Specifies the text direction for the content in an element | STF |
| lang | language_code | Specifies a language code for the content in an element | STF |
| xml:lang | language_code | Specifies a language code for the content in an element, in XHTML documents | STF |
5. Event Attributes
The <html> tag does not support any event attributes.
