Global attributes are attributes common to all HTML elements; they can be used on all elements, though they may have no effect on some elements.
Global attributes may be specified on all HTML elements, even those not specified in the standard. That means that any non-standard elements must still permit these attributes, even though using those elements means that the document is no longer HTML5-compliant. For example, HTML5-compliant browsers hide content marked as <foo hidden>...</foo>
, even though <foo>
is not a valid HTML element.
In addition to the basic HTML global attributes, the following global attributes also exist:
xml:lang
andxml:base
— these are inherited from the XHTML specifications and deprecated, but kept for compatibility purposes.- The multiple
aria-*
attributes, used for improving accessibility. - The event handler attributes:
onabort
,onautocomplete
,onautocompleteerror
,onblur
,oncancel
,oncanplay
,oncanplaythrough
,onchange
,onclick
,onclose
,oncontextmenu
,oncuechange
,ondblclick
,ondrag
,ondragend
,ondragenter
,ondragexit
,ondragleave
,ondragover
,ondragstart
,ondrop
,ondurationchange
,onemptied
,onended
,onerror
,onfocus
,oninput
,oninvalid
,onkeydown
,onkeypress
,onkeyup
,onload
,onloadeddata
,onloadedmetadata
,onloadstart
,onmousedown
,onmouseenter
,onmouseleave
,onmousemove
,onmouseout
,onmouseover
,onmouseup
,onmousewheel
,onpause
,onplay
,onplaying
,onprogress
,onratechange
,onreset
,onresize
,onscroll
,onseeked
,onseeking
,onselect
,onshow
,onsort
,onstalled
,onsubmit
,onsuspend
,ontimeupdate
,ontoggle
,onvolumechange
,onwaiting
.
List of global attributes
accesskey
- Provides a hint for generating a keyboard shortcut for the current element. This attribute consists of a space-separated list of characters. The browser should use the first one that exists on the computer keyboard layout.
autocapitalize
- Controls whether and how text input is automatically capitalized as it is entered/edited by the user. It can have the following values:
off
ornone
, no autocapitalization is applied (all letters default to lowercase)on
orsentences
, the first letter of each sentence defaults to a capital letter; all other letters default to lowercasewords
, the first letter of each word defaults to a capital letter; all other letters default to lowercasecharacters
, all letters should default to uppercase
class
- A space-separated list of the classes of the element. Classes allows CSS and JavaScript to select and access specific elements via the class selectors or functions like the method
Document.getElementsByClassName()
. contenteditable
- An enumerated attribute indicating if the element should be editable by the user. If so, the browser modifies its widget to allow editing. The attribute must take one of the following values:
true
or the empty string, which indicates that the element must be editable;false
, which indicates that the element must not be editable.
contextmenu
- The
id
of a<menu>
to use as the contextual menu for this element. data-*
- Forms a class of attributes, called custom data attributes, that allow proprietary information to be exchanged between the HTML and its DOM representation that may be used by scripts. All such custom data are available via the
HTMLElement
interface of the element the attribute is set on. TheHTMLElement.dataset
property gives access to them. dir
- An enumerated attribute indicating the directionality of the element's text. It can have the following values:
ltr
, which means left to right and is to be used for languages that are written from the left to the right (like English);rtl
, which means right to left and is to be used for languages that are written from the right to the left (like Arabic);auto
, which lets the user agent decide. It uses a basic algorithm as it parses the characters inside the element until it finds a character with a strong directionality, then it applies that directionality to the whole element.
draggable
- An enumerated attribute indicating whether the element can be dragged, using the Drag and Drop API. It can have the following values:
true
, which indicates that the element may be draggedfalse
, which indicates that the element may not be dragged.
dropzone
- An enumerated attribute indicating what types of content can be dropped on an element, using the Drag and Drop API. It can have the following values:
copy
, which indicates that dropping will create a copy of the element that was draggedmove
, which indicates that the element that was dragged will be moved to this new location.link
, will create a link to the dragged data.
exportparts
- Used to transitively export shadow parts from a nested shadow tree into a containing light tree.
hidden
- A Boolean attribute indicates that the element is not yet, or is no longer, relevant. For example, it can be used to hide elements of the page that can't be used until the login process has been completed. The browser won't render such elements. This attribute must not be used to hide content that could legitimately be shown.
id
- Defines a unique identifier (ID) which must be unique in the whole document. Its purpose is to identify the element when linking (using a fragment identifier), scripting, or styling (with CSS).
inputmode
- Provides a hint to browsers as to the type of virtual keyboard configuration to use when editing this element or its contents. Used primarily on
<input>
elements, but is usable on any element while incontenteditable
mode. is
- Allows you to specify that a standard HTML element should behave like a registered custom built-in element (see Using custom elements for more details).
Note: The item*
attributes are part of the WHATWG HTML Microdata feature.
itemid
- The unique, global identifier of an item.
itemprop
- Used to add properties to an item. Every HTML element may have an
itemprop
attribute specified, where anitemprop
consists of a name and value pair. itemref
- Properties that are not descendants of an element with the
itemscope
attribute can be associated with the item using anitemref
. It provides a list of element ids (notitemid
s) with additional properties elsewhere in the document. itemscope
itemscope
(usually) works along withitemtype
to specify that the HTML contained in a block is about a particular item.itemscope
creates the Item and defines the scope of theitemtype
associated with it.itemtype
is a valid URL of a vocabulary (such as schema.org) that describes the item and its properties context.itemtype
- Specifies the URL of the vocabulary that will be used to define
itemprop
s (item properties) in the data structure.itemscope
is used to set the scope of where in the data structure the vocabulary set byitemtype
will be active. lang
- Helps define the language of an element: the language that non-editable elements are in, or the language that editable elements should be written in by the user. The attribute contains one “language tag” (made of hyphen-separated “language subtags”) in the format defined in Tags for Identifying Languages (BCP47). xml:lang has priority over it.
part
- A space-separated list of the part names of the element. Part names allows CSS to select and style specific elements in a shadow tree via the
::part
pseudo-element. slot
- Assigns a slot in a shadow DOM shadow tree to an element: An element with a
slot
attribute is assigned to the slot created by the<slot>
element whosename
attribute's value matches thatslot
attribute's value. spellcheck
- An enumerated attribute defines whether the element may be checked for spelling errors. It may have the following values:
true
, which indicates that the element should be, if possible, checked for spelling errors;false
, which indicates that the element should not be checked for spelling errors.
style
- Contains CSS styling declarations to be applied to the element. Note that it is recommended for styles to be defined in a separate file or files. This attribute and the
<style>
element have mainly the purpose of allowing for quick styling, for example for testing purposes. tabindex
- An integer attribute indicating if the element can take input focus (is focusable), if it should participate to sequential keyboard navigation, and if so, at what position. It can take several values:
- a negative value means that the element should be focusable, but should not be reachable via sequential keyboard navigation;
0
means that the element should be focusable and reachable via sequential keyboard navigation, but its relative order is defined by the platform convention;- a positive value means that the element should be focusable and reachable via sequential keyboard navigation; the order in which the elements are focused is the increasing value of the tabindex. If several elements share the same tabindex, their relative order follows their relative positions in the document.
title
- Contains a text representing advisory information related to the element it belongs to. Such information can typically, but not necessarily, be presented to the user as a tooltip.
translate
- An enumerated attribute that is used to specify whether an 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. It can have the following values:- empty string and
yes
, which indicates that the element will be translated. no
, which indicates that the element will not be translated.
- empty string and
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
HTML Living Standard The definition of 'Global attributes' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
Shadow Parts | Working Draft | Added the part and exportparts global attributes. |
HTML 5.2 The definition of 'Global attributes' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Snapshot of HTML Living Standard. From HTML 5.1, itemid , itemprop , itemref , itemscope , and itemtype have been added. |
HTML 5.1 The definition of 'Global attributes' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Snapshot of HTML Living Standard. From HTML5, contextmenu , draggable , dropzone , and spellcheck have been added. |
HTML5 The definition of 'Global attributes' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Snapshot of HTML Living Standard. From HTML 4.01 Specification, the concept of global attributes is introduced and the dir , lang , style , id , class , tabindex , accesskey , and title are now true global attributes.xml:lang which was initially part of XHTML, is now also part of HTML.hidden , data-* , contenteditable , and translate have been added. |
HTML 4.01 Specification | Recommendation | There are no global attributes defined. Several attributes that will become global attributes in subsequent specifications are defined on a subset of elements.class and style are supported on all elements but <base> , <basefont> , <head> , <html> , <meta> , <param> , <script> , <style> , and <title> .dir is supported on all elements but <applet> , <base> , <basefont> , <bdo> , <br> , <frame> , <frameset> , <iframe> , <param> , and <script> .id is supported on all elements but <base> , <head> , <html> , <meta> , <script> , <style> , and <title> .lang is supported on all elements but <applet> , <base> , <basefont> , <br> , <frame> , <frameset> , <iframe> , <param> , and <script> .tabindex is only supported on <a> , <area> , <button> , <object> , <select> , and <textarea> .accesskey is only supported on <a> , <area> , <button> , <input> , <label> , <legend> and <textarea> .title is supported on all elements but <base> , <basefont> , <head> , <html> , <meta> , <param> , <script> , and <title> . |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
accesskey | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
autocapitalize | Chrome No support No | Edge ? | Firefox No support No | IE ? | Opera ? | Safari No support No | WebView Android Full support 66 | Chrome Android Full support 66 | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android ? | Safari iOS Full support 5 | Samsung Internet Android ? |
autocomplete | Chrome
Full support
66
| Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE No support No | Opera Full support Yes | Safari ? | WebView Android
Full support
66
| Chrome Android
Full support
66
| Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS ? | Samsung Internet Android
Full support
9.0
|
class | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 32 | 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 32 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
contenteditable | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 3 | IE Full support 5.5 | Opera Full support 9 | 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 |
contextmenu | Chrome
Full support
52
| Edge
Full support
79
| Firefox Full support 9 | IE No support No | Opera
Full support
39
| Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android
No support
? — 52
| Firefox Android
No support
32 — 56
| Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support ? — 6.0 |
data-* attributes | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
dir | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE No support No | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
draggable | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 2 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support 12 | 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 |
dropzone | Chrome
No support
? — 58
| Edge No support No | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera
No support
? — 45
| Safari No support No | WebView Android
No support
? — 58
| Chrome Android
No support
? — 58
| Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android
No support
? — 43
| Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android
No support
? — 7.0
|
enterkeyhint | Chrome Full support 77 | Edge No support No | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari Full support 13.1 | WebView Android Full support 77 | Chrome Android Full support 77 | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS Full support 13.4 | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
exportparts | Chrome Full support 73 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera Full support 60 | Safari Full support 13.1 | WebView Android Full support 73 | Chrome Android Full support 73 | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android ? | Safari iOS Full support 13.4 | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
hidden | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE Full support 11 | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support 4 | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
id | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox
Full support
32
| 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
32
| Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
inputmode | Chrome Full support 66 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox
Full support
23
| IE No support No | Opera Full support 53 | Safari No support No | WebView Android Full support 66 | Chrome Android Full support 66 | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android Full support 47 | Safari iOS Full support 12.2 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 9.0 |
is | Chrome Full support 67 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox
Full support
63
| IE No support No | Opera Full support 55 | Safari No support No | WebView Android Full support 67 | Chrome Android Full support 67 | Firefox Android
Full support
63
| Opera Android Full support 48 | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android Full support 9.0 |
itemid | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
itemprop | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
itemref | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
itemscope | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
itemtype | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
lang | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
part | Chrome Full support 73 | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox
Full support
72
| IE No support No | Opera Full support 60 | Safari Full support 13.1 | WebView Android Full support 73 | Chrome Android Full support 73 | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android ? | Safari iOS Full support 13.4 | Samsung Internet Android No support No |
slot | Chrome Full support 53 | Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox
Full support
63
| IE ? | Opera Full support 40 | Safari Full support 10 | WebView Android Full support 53 | Chrome Android Full support 53 | Firefox Android
Full support
63
| Opera Android Full support 41 | Safari iOS Full support 10 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 6.0 |
spellcheck | Chrome Full support 9 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | IE Full support 11 | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support 47 | Chrome Android Full support 47 | Firefox Android Full support 57 | Opera Android Full support 37 | Safari iOS Full support 9.3 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0 |
style | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
tabindex | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
title | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support Yes | 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 Yes | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
translate | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support 79 | Firefox No support No | IE No support No | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android No support No | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
- Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
- See implementation notes.
- See implementation notes.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- User must explicitly enable this feature.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
- Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
See also
Element
andGlobalEventHandlers
interfaces that allow to query most global attributes.