HTML Text

Where phrasing content is expected.

Neither tag is omissible.

value — Machine-readable value

Allowed ARIA role attribute values:

Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.

interface HTMLDataElement : HTMLElement {
  attribute DOMString value;
};

The data element represents its contents, along with a machine-readable form of those contents in the value attribute.

The value attribute must be present. Its value must be a representation of the element's contents in a machine-readable format.

When the value is date- or time-related, the more specific time element can be used instead.

The element can be used for several purposes.

When combined with microformats or the microdata attributes defined in this specification, the element serves to provide both a machine-readable value for the purposes of data processors, and a human-readable value for the purposes of rendering in a Web browser. In this case, the format to be used in the value attribute is determined by the microformats or microdata vocabulary in use.

The element can also, however, be used in conjunction with scripts in the page, for when a script has a literal value to store alongside a human-readable value. In such cases, the format to be used depends only on the needs of the script. (The data-* attributes can also be useful in such situations.)

The value IDL attribute must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

Here, a short table has its numeric values encoded using data so that the table sorting model can provide a sorting mechanism on each column, despite the numbers being presented in textual form in one column and in a decomposed form in another.

<table sortable>
 <thead> <tr> <th> Game <th> Corporations <th> Map Size
 <tbody>
  <tr> <td> 1830 <td> <data value="8">Eight</data> <td> <data value="93">19+74 hexes (93 total)</data>
  <tr> <td> 1856 <td> <data value="11">Eleven</data> <td> <data value="99">12+87 hexes (99 total)</data>
  <tr> <td> 1870 <td> <data value="10">Ten</data> <td> <data value="149">4+145 hexes (149 total)</data>
</table>

The `time` element

Where phrasing content is expected.

Neither tag is omissible.

datetime — Machine-readable value

Allowed ARIA role attribute values:

Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.

A valid yearless date string

interface HTMLTimeElement : HTMLElement {
  attribute DOMString dateTime;
};

The time element represents its contents, along with a machine-readable form of those contents in the datetime attribute. The kind of content is limited to various kinds of dates, times, time-zone offsets, and durations, as described below.

The datetime attribute may be present. If present, its value must be a representation of the element's contents in a machine-readable format.

A time element that does not have a datetime content attribute must not have any element descendants.

The datetime value of a time element is the value of the element's datetime content attribute, if it has one, or the element's textContent, if it does not.

The datetime value of a time element must match one of the following syntaxes.

A valid month string

<time>2011-11</time>

A valid date string

<time>2011-11-18</time>

<time>11-18</time>

A valid time string

<time>14:54</time>

<time>14:54:39</time>

<time>14:54:39.929</time>

A valid local date and time string

<time>2011-11-18T14:54</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39.929</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39.929</time>

Times with dates but without a time zone offset are useful for specifying events that are observed at the same specific time in each time zone, throughout a day. For example, the 2020 new year is celebrated at 2020-01-01 00:00 in each time zone, not at the same precise moment across all time zones. For events that occur at the same time across all time zones, for example a videoconference meeting, a valid global date and time string is likely more useful.

A valid time-zone offset string

<time>Z</time>

<time>+0000</time>

<time>+00:00</time>

<time>-0800</time>

<time>-08:00</time>

For times without dates (or times referring to events that recur on multiple dates), specifying the geographic location that controls the time is usually more useful than specifying a time zone offset, because geographic locations change time zone offsets with daylight savings time. In some cases, geographic locations even change time zone, e.g. when the boundaries of those time zones are redrawn, as happened with Samoa at the end of 2011. There exists a time zone database that describes the boundaries of time zones and what rules apply within each such zone, known as the time zone database. [[TZDATABASE]]

A valid global date and time string

<time>2011-11-18T14:54Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39.929Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39.929+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18T14:54:39.929+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54:39-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54:39.929-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54-08:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54:39-08:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18T06:54:39.929-08:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39.929Z</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39.929+0000</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 14:54:39.929+00:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54:39-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54:39.929-0800</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54-08:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54:39-08:00</time>

<time>2011-11-18 06:54:39.929-08:00</time>

Times with dates and a time zone offset are useful for specifying specific events, or recurring virtual events where the time is not anchored to a specific geographic location. For example, the precise time of an asteroid impact, or a particular meeting in a series of meetings held at 1400 UTC every day, regardless of whether any particular part of the world is observing daylight savings time or not. For events where the precise time varies by the local time zone offset of a specific geographic location, a valid local date and time string combined with that geographic location is likely more useful.

A valid week string

<time>2011-W47</time>

Four or more ASCII digits, at least one of which is not U+0030 DIGIT ZERO (0)

<time>2011</time>

<time>0001</time>

A valid duration string

<time>PT4H18M3S</time>

<time>4h 18m 3s</time>

The machine-readable equivalent of the element's contents must be obtained from the element's datetime value by using the following algorithm:

If parsing a month string from the element's datetime value returns a month, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a date string from the element's datetime value returns a date, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a yearless date string from the element's datetime value returns a yearless date, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a time string from the element's datetime value returns a time, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a local date and time string from the element's datetime value returns a local date and time, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a time-zone offset string from the element's datetime value returns a time-zone offset, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a global date and time string from the element's datetime value returns a global date and time, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If parsing a week string from the element's datetime value returns a week, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
If the element's datetime value consists of only ASCII digits, at least one of which is not U+0030 DIGIT ZERO (0), then the machine-readable equivalent is the base-ten interpretation of those digits, representing a year; abort these steps.
If parsing a duration string from the element's datetime value returns a duration, that is the machine-readable equivalent; abort these steps.
There is no machine-readable equivalent.

The algorithms referenced above are intended to be designed such that for any arbitrary string s, only one of the algorithms returns a value. A more efficient approach might be to create a single algorithm that parses all these data types in one pass; developing such an algorithm is left as an exercise to the reader.

The dateTime IDL attribute must reflect the element's datetime content attribute.

The time element can be used to encode dates, for example in microformats. The following shows a hypothetical way of encoding an event using a variant on hCalendar that uses the time element:

<div class="vevent">
 <a class="url" href="http://www.web2con.com/">http://www.web2con.com/</a>
  <span class="summary">Web 2.0 Conference</span>:
  <time class="dtstart" datetime="2005-10-05">October 5</time> -
  <time class="dtend" datetime="2005-10-07">7</time>,
  at the <span class="location">Argent Hotel, San Francisco, CA</span>
 </div>

Here, a fictional microdata vocabulary based on the Atom vocabulary is used with the time element to mark up a blog post's publication date.

<article itemscope itemtype="http://n.example.org/rfc4287">
 <h1 itemprop="title">Big tasks</h1>
 <footer>Published <time itemprop="published" datetime="2009-08-29">two days ago</time>.</footer>
 <p itemprop="content">Today, I went out and bought a bike for my kid.</p>
</article>

In this example, another article's publication date is marked up using time, this time using the schema.org microdata vocabulary:

<article itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting">
 <h1 itemprop="headline">Small tasks</h1>
 <footer>Published <time itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2009-08-30">yesterday</time>.</footer>
 <p itemprop="articleBody">I put a bike bell on his bike.</p>
</article>

In the following snippet, the time element is used to encode a date in the ISO8601 format, for later processing by a script:

<p>Our first date was <time datetime="2006-09-23">a Saturday</time>.</p>

In this second snippet, the value includes a time:

<p>We stopped talking at <time datetime="2006-09-24T05:00-07:00">5am the next morning</time>.</p>

A script loaded by the page (and thus privy to the page's internal convention of marking up dates and times using the time element) could scan through the page and look at all the time elements therein to create an index of dates and times.

For example, this element conveys the string "Tuesday" with the additional semantic that the 18th of November 2011 is the meaning that corresponds to "Tuesday":

Today is <time datetime="2011-11-18">Tuesday</time>.

In this example, a specific time in the Pacific Standard Time timezone is specified:

Your next meeting is at <time datetime="2011-11-18T15:00-08:00">3pm</time>.

The `code` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The code element represents a fragment of computer code. This could be an XML element name, a file name, a computer program, or any other string that a computer would recognize.

There is no formal way to indicate the language of computer code being marked up. Authors who wish to mark code elements with the language used, e.g. so that syntax highlighting scripts can use the right rules, can use the class attribute, e.g. by adding a class prefixed with "language-" to the element.

The following example shows how the element can be used in a paragraph to mark up element names and computer code, including punctuation.

<p>The <code>code</code> element represents a fragment of computer
code.</p>

<p>When you call the <code>activate()</code> method on the
<code>robotSnowman</code> object, the eyes glow.</p>

<p>The example below uses the <code>begin</code> keyword to indicate
the start of a statement block. It is paired with an <code>end</code>
keyword, which is followed by the <code>.</code> punctuation character
(full stop) to indicate the end of the program.</p>

The following example shows how a block of code could be marked up using the pre and code elements.

<pre><code class="language-pascal">var i: Integer;
begin
   i := 1;
end.</code></pre>

A class is used in that example to indicate the language used.

See the pre element for more details.

The `var` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The var element represents a variable. This could be an actual variable in a mathematical expression or programming context, an identifier representing a constant, a symbol identifying a physical quantity, a function parameter, or just be a term used as a placeholder in prose.

In the paragraph below, the letter "n" is being used as a variable in prose:

<p>If there are <var>n</var> pipes leading to the ice
cream factory then I expect at <em>least</em> <var>n</var>
flavors of ice cream to be available for purchase!</p>

For mathematics, in particular for anything beyond the simplest of expressions, MathML is more appropriate. However, the var element can still be used to refer to specific variables that are then mentioned in MathML expressions.

In this example, an equation is shown, with a legend that references the variables in the equation. The expression itself is marked up with MathML, but the variables are mentioned in the figure's legend using var.

<figure>
 <math>
  <mi>a</mi>
  <mo>=</mo>
  <msqrt>
   <msup><mi>b</mi><mn>2</mn></msup>
   <mi>+</mi>
   <msup><mi>c</mi><mn>2</mn></msup>
  </msqrt>
 </math>
 <figcaption>
  Using Pythagoras' theorem to solve for the hypotenuse <var>a</var> of
  a triangle with sides <var>b</var> and <var>c</var>
 </figcaption>
</figure>

Here, the equation describing mass-energy equivalence is used in a sentence, and the var element is used to mark the variables and constants in that equation:

<p>Then he turned to the blackboard and picked up the chalk. After a few moment's
thought, he wrote <var>E</var> = <var>m</var> <var>c</var><sup>2</sup>. The teacher
looked pleased.</p>

The `samp` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The samp element represents sample or quoted output from another program or computing system.

See the pre and kbd elements for more details.

This element can be contrasted with the output element, which can be used to provide immediate output in a Web application.

This example shows the samp element being used inline:

<p>The computer said <samp>Too much cheese in tray
two</samp> but I didn't know what that meant.</p>

This second example shows a block of sample output. Nested samp and kbd elements allow for the styling of specific elements of the sample output using a style sheet. There's also a few parts of the samp that are annotated with even more detailed markup, to enable very precise styling. To achieve this, span elements are used.

<pre><samp><span class="prompt">jdoe@mowmow:~$</span> <kbd>ssh demo.example.com</kbd>
Last login: Tue Apr 12 09:10:17 2005 from mowmow.example.com on pts/1
Linux demo 2.6.10-grsec+gg3+e+fhs6b+nfs+gr0501+++p3+c4a+gr2b-reslog-v6.189 #1 SMP Tue Feb 1 11:22:36 PST 2005 i686 unknown

<span class="prompt">jdoe@demo:~$</span> <span class="cursor">_</span></samp></pre>

The `kbd` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The kbd element represents user input (typically keyboard input, although it may also be used to represent other input, such as voice commands).

When the kbd element is nested inside a samp element, it represents the input as it was echoed by the system.

When the kbd element contains a samp element, it represents input based on system output, for example invoking a menu item.

When the kbd element is nested inside another kbd element, it represents an actual key or other single unit of input as appropriate for the input mechanism.

Here the kbd element is used to indicate keys to press:

<p>To make George eat an apple, press <kbd><kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>F3</kbd></kbd></p>

In this second example, the user is told to pick a particular menu item. The outer kbd element marks up a block of input, with the inner kbd elements representing each individual step of the input, and the samp elements inside them indicating that the steps are input based on something being displayed by the system, in this case menu labels:

<p>To make George eat an apple, select
    <kbd><kbd><samp>File</samp></kbd>|<kbd><samp>Eat Apple...</samp></kbd></kbd>
</p>

Such precision isn't necessary; the following is equally fine:

<p>To make George eat an apple, select <kbd>File | Eat Apple...</kbd></p>

The `sub` and `sup` elements

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Use HTMLElement.

The sup element represents a superscript and the sub element represents a subscript.

These elements must be used only to mark up typographical conventions with specific meanings, not for typographical presentation for presentation's sake. For example, it would be inappropriate for the sub and sup elements to be used in the name of the LaTeX document preparation system. In general, authors should use these elements only if the absence of those elements would change the meaning of the content.

In certain languages, superscripts are part of the typographical conventions for some abbreviations.

<p>The most beautiful women are
<span lang="fr"><abbr>M<sup>lle</sup></abbr> Gwendoline</span> and
<span lang="fr"><abbr>M<sup>me</sup></abbr> Denise</span>.</p>

The sub element can be used inside a var element, for variables that have subscripts.

Here, the sub element is used to represent the subscript that identifies the variable in a family of variables:

<p>The coordinate of the <var>i</var>th point is
(<var>x<sub><var>i</var></sub></var>, <var>y<sub><var>i</var></sub></var>).
For example, the 10th point has coordinate
(<var>x<sub>10</sub></var>, <var>y<sub>10</sub></var>).</p>

Mathematical expressions often use subscripts and superscripts. Authors are encouraged to use MathML for marking up mathematics, but authors may opt to use sub and sup if detailed mathematical markup is not desired. [[!MATHML]]

<var>E</var>=<var>m</var><var>c</var><sup>2</sup>

f(<var>x</var>, <var>n</var>) = log<sub>4</sub><var>x</var><sup><var>n</var></sup>

The `i` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The i element represents a span of text in an alternate voice or mood, or otherwise offset from the normal prose in a manner indicating a different quality of text, such as a taxonomic designation, a technical term, an idiomatic phrase from another language, transliteration, a thought, or a ship name in Western texts.

Terms in languages different from the main text should be annotated with lang attributes (or, in XML, lang attributes in the XML namespace).

The examples below show uses of the i element:

<p>The <i class="taxonomy">Felis silvestris catus</i> is cute.</p>
<p>The term <i>prose content</i> is defined above.</p>
<p>There is a certain <i lang="fr">je ne sais quoi</i> in the air.</p>

In the following example, a dream sequence is marked up using i elements.

<p>Raymond tried to sleep.</p>
<p><i>The ship sailed away on Thursday</i>, he
dreamt. <i>The ship had many people aboard, including a beautiful
princess called Carey. He watched her, day-in, day-out, hoping she
would notice him, but she never did.</i></p>
<p><i>Finally one night he picked up the courage to speak with
her—</i></p>
<p>Raymond woke with a start as the fire alarm rang out.</p>

Authors can use the class attribute on the i element to identify why the element is being used, so that if the style of a particular use (e.g. dream sequences as opposed to taxonomic terms) is to be changed at a later date, the author doesn't have to go through the entire document (or series of related documents) annotating each use.

Authors are encouraged to consider whether other elements might be more applicable than the i element, for instance the em element for marking up stress emphasis, or the dfn element to mark up the defining instance of a term.

Style sheets can be used to format i elements, just like any other element can be restyled. Thus, it is not the case that content in i elements will necessarily be italicized.

The `b` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The b element represents a span of text to which attention is being drawn for utilitarian purposes without conveying any extra importance and with no implication of an alternate voice or mood, such as key words in a document abstract, product names in a review, actionable words in interactive text-driven software, or an article lede.

The following example shows a use of the b element to highlight key words without marking them up as important:

<p>The <b>frobonitor</b> and <b>barbinator</b> components are fried.</p>

In the following example, objects in a text adventure are highlighted as being special by use of the b element.

<p>You enter a small room. Your <b>sword</b> glows
brighter. A <b>rat</b> scurries past the corner wall.</p>

Another case where the b element is appropriate is in marking up the lede (or lead) sentence or paragraph. The following example shows how a BBC article about kittens adopting a rabbit as their own could be marked up:

<article>
 <h2>Kittens 'adopted' by pet rabbit</h2>
 <p><b class="lede">Six abandoned kittens have found an
 unexpected new mother figure — a pet rabbit.</b></p>
 <p>Veterinary nurse Melanie Humble took the three-week-old
 kittens to her Aberdeen home.</p>
[...]

As with the i element, authors can use the class attribute on the b element to identify why the element is being used, so that if the style of a particular use is to be changed at a later date, the author doesn't have to go through annotating each use.

The b element should be used as a last resort when no other element is more appropriate. In particular, headings should use the h1 to h6 elements, stress emphasis should use the em element, importance should be denoted with the strong element, and text marked or highlighted should use the mark element.

The following would be incorrect usage:

<p><b>WARNING!</b> Do not frob the barbinator!</p>

In the previous example, the correct element to use would have been strong, not b.

Style sheets can be used to format b elements, just like any other element can be restyled. Thus, it is not the case that content in b elements will necessarily be boldened.

The `u` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The u element represents a span of text with an unarticulated, though explicitly rendered, non-textual annotation, such as labeling the text as being a proper name in Chinese text (a Chinese proper name mark), or labeling the text as being misspelt.

In most cases, another element is likely to be more appropriate: for marking stress emphasis, the em element should be used; for marking key words or phrases either the b element or the mark element should be used, depending on the context; for marking book titles, the cite element should be used; for labeling text with explicit textual annotations, the ruby element should be used; for labeling ship names in Western texts, the i element should be used.

The default rendering of the u element in visual presentations clashes with the conventional rendering of hyperlinks (underlining). Authors are encouraged to avoid using the u element where it could be confused for a hyperlink.

In this example, a u element is used to mark a word as misspelt:

<p>The <u>see</u> is full of fish.</p>

The `mark` element

Categories:: Flow content.; Phrasing content.; Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:: Where phrasing content is expected.
Content model:: Phrasing content.
Tag omission in text/html:: Neither tag is omissible.
Content attributes:: Global attributes
Allowed ARIA role attribute values:: Any role value.
Allowed ARIA State and Property Attributes:: Global aria-* attributes; Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.
DOM interface:: Uses HTMLElement.

The mark element represents a run of text in one document marked or highlighted for reference purposes, due to its relevance in another context. When used in a quotation or other block of text referred to from the prose, it indicates a highlight that was not originally present but which has been added to bring the reader's attention to a part of the text that might not have been considered important by the original author when the block was originally written, but which is now under previously unexpected scrutiny. When used in the main prose of a document, it indicates a part of the document that has been highlighted due to its likely relevance to the user's current activity.

This example shows how the mark element can be used to bring attention to a particular part of a quotation:

<p lang="en-US">Consider the following quote:</p>
<blockquote lang="en-GB">
 <p>Look around and you will find, no-one's really
 <mark>colour</mark> blind.</p>
</blockquote>
<p lang="en-US">As we can tell from the <em>spelling</em> of the word,
the person writing this quote is clearly not American.</p>

(If the goal was to mark the element as misspelt, however, the u element, possibly with a class, would be more appropriate.)

Another example of the mark element is highlighting parts of a document that are matching some search string. If someone looked at a document, and the server knew that the user was searching for the word "kitten", then the server might return the document with one paragraph modified as follows:

<p>I also have some <mark>kitten</mark>s who are visiting me
these days. They're really cute. I think they like my garden! Maybe I
should adopt a <mark>kitten</mark>.</p>

In the following snippet, a paragraph of text refers to a specific part of a code fragment.

<p>The highlighted part below is where the error lies:</p>
<pre><code>var i: Integer;
begin
   i := <mark>1.1</mark>;
end.</code></pre>

This is separate from syntax highlighting, for which span is more appropriate. Combining both, one would get:

<p>The highlighted part below is where the error lies:</p>
<pre><code><span class=keyword>var</span> <span class=ident>i</span>: <span class=type>Integer</span>;
<span class=keyword>begin</span>
   <span class=ident>i</span> := <span class=literal><mark>1.1</mark></span>;
<span class=keyword>end</span>.</code></pre>

This is another example showing the use of mark to highlight a part of quoted text that was originally not emphasized. In this example, common typographic conventions have led the author to explicitly style mark elements in quotes to render in italics.

<article>
 <style scoped>
  blockquote mark, q mark {
    font: inherit; font-style: italic;
    text-decoration: none;
    background: transparent; color: inherit;
  }
  .bubble em {
    font: inherit; font-size: larger;
    text-decoration: underline;
  }
 </style>
 <h1>She knew</h1>
 <p>Did you notice the subtle joke in the joke on panel 4?</p>
 <blockquote>
  <p class="bubble">I didn't <em>want</em> to believe. <mark>Of course
  on some level I realised it was a known-plaintext attack.</mark> But I
  couldn't admit it until I saw for myself.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>(Emphasis mine.) I thought that was great. It's so pedantic, yet it
 explains everything neatly.</p>
</article>

Note, incidentally, the distinction between the em element in this example, which is part of the original text being quoted, and the mark element, which is highlighting a part for comment.

The following example shows the difference between denoting the importance of a span of text (strong) as opposed to denoting the relevance of a span of text (mark). It is an extract from a textbook, where the extract has had the parts relevant to the exam highlighted. The safety warnings, important though they may be, are apparently not relevant to the exam.

<h3>Wormhole Physics Introduction</h3>

<p><mark>A wormhole in normal conditions can be held open for a
maximum of just under 39 minutes.</mark> Conditions that can increase
the time include a powerful energy source coupled to one or both of
the gates connecting the wormhole, and a large gravity well (such as a
black hole).</p>

<p><mark>Momentum is preserved across the wormhole. Electromagnetic
radiation can travel in both directions through a wormhole,
but matter cannot.</mark></p>

<p>When a wormhole is created, a vortex normally forms.
<strong>Warning: The vortex caused by the wormhole opening will
annihilate anything in its path.</strong> Vortexes can be avoided when
using sufficiently advanced dialing technology.</p>

<p><mark>An obstruction in a gate will prevent it from accepting a
wormhole connection.</mark></p>

The `span` element

Where phrasing content is expected.

Neither tag is omissible.

Allowed ARIA role attribute values:

Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.

interface HTMLSpanElement : HTMLElement {};

The span element doesn't mean anything on its own, but can be useful when used together with the global attributes, e.g. class, lang, or dir. It represents its children.

In this example, a code fragment is marked up using span elements and class attributes so that its keywords and identifiers can be colour-coded from CSS:

<pre><code class="lang-c"><span class="keyword">for</span> (<span class="ident">j</span> = 0; <span class="ident">j</span> &lt; 256; <span class="ident">j</span>++) {
  <span class="ident">i_t3</span> = (<span class="ident">i_t3</span> & 0x1ffff) | (<span class="ident">j</span> &lt;&lt; 17);
  <span class="ident">i_t6</span> = (((((((<span class="ident">i_t3</span> >> 3) ^ <span class="ident">i_t3</span>) >> 1) ^ <span class="ident">i_t3</span>) >> 8) ^ <span class="ident">i_t3</span>) >> 5) & 0xff;
  <span class="keyword">if</span> (<span class="ident">i_t6</span> == <span class="ident">i_t1</span>)
    <span class="keyword">break</span>;
}</code></pre>

The `br` element

Categories:

Flow content.

Where phrasing content is expected.

Nothing.

No end tag.

Allowed ARIA role attribute values:

Any aria-* attributes applicable to the allowed roles.