The HTML <meta>
element represents metadata that cannot be represented by other HTML meta-related elements, like <base>
, <link>
, <script>
, <style>
or <title>
.
Content categories | Metadata content. If the itemprop attribute is present: flow content, phrasing content. |
---|---|
Permitted content | None, it is an empty element. |
Tag omission | As it is a void element, the start tag must be present and the end tag must not be present. |
Permitted parents | <meta charset> , <meta http-equiv> : a <head> element. If the http-equiv is not an encoding declaration, it can also be inside a <noscript> element, itself inside a <head> element. |
Implicit ARIA role | No corresponding role |
Permitted ARIA roles | No role permitted |
DOM interface | HTMLMetaElement |
The type of metadata provided by the meta
element can be one of the following:
- If the
name
attribute is set, themeta
element provides document-level metadata, applying to the whole page. - If the
http-equiv
attribute is set, themeta
element is a pragma directive, providing information equivalent to what can be given by a similarly-named HTTP header. - If the
charset
attribute is set, themeta
element is a charset declaration, giving the character encoding in which the document is encoded. - If the
itemprop
attribute is set, themeta
element provides user-defined metadata.
Attributes
This element includes the global attributes.
Note: the attribute name
has a specific meaning for the <meta>
element, and the itemprop
attribute must not be set on the same <meta>
element that has any existing name
, http-equiv
or charset
attributes.
charset
- This attribute declares the document's character encoding. If the attribute is present, its value must be an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "
utf-8
". content
- This attribute contains the value for the
http-equiv
orname
attribute, depending on which is used. http-equiv
-
Defines a pragma directive. The attribute is named
http-equiv(alent)
because all the allowed values are names of particular HTTP headers:content-security-policy
Allows page authors to define a content policy for the current page. Content policies mostly specify allowed server origins and script endpoints which help guard against cross-site scripting attacks.
content-type
If specified, the
content
attribute must have the value "text/html; charset=utf-8
". Note: Can only be used in documents served with atext/html
MIME type — not in documents served with an XML MIME type.default-style
Sets the name of the default CSS style sheet set.
x-ua-compatible
If specified, the
content
attribute must have the value "IE=edge
". User agents are required to ignore this pragma.refresh
This instruction specifies:- The number of seconds until the page should be reloaded - only if the
content
attribute contains a positive integer. - The number of seconds until the page should redirect to another - only if the
content
attribute contains a positive integer followed by the string ';url=
', and a valid URL.
Accessibility concerns
Pages set with arefresh
value run the risk of having the time interval being too short. People navigating with the aid of assistive technology such as a screen reader may be unable to read through and understand the page's content before being automatically redirected. The abrupt, unannounced updating of the page content may also be disorienting for people experiencing low vision conditions.- MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 2.1 explanations
- MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 3.1 explanations
- Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.1 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0
- Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.4 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0
- Understanding Success Criterion 3.2.5 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0
- The number of seconds until the page should be reloaded - only if the
name
-
The
name
andcontent
attributes can be used together to provide document metadata in terms of name-value pairs, with thename
attribute giving the metadata name, and thecontent
attribute giving the value.See standard metadata names for details about the set of standard metadata names defined in the HTML specification.
Examples
<meta charset="utf-8"> <!-- Redirect page after 3 seconds --> <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3;url=https://www.mozilla.org">
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
HTML Living Standard The definition of '<meta>' in that specification. |
Living Standard |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
meta | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
charset | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
content | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
http-equiv | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
name | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support