HTML Standard Attributes

HTML tags can have attributes. The special attributes for each tag are listed under each tag description.

The attributes listed here are the core and language attributes that are standard for all tags (with a few exceptions).

Core Attributes

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

Attribute	Value	Description
class	class_rule orstyle_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

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