XHTML Attributes

There are some XHTML attributes which are standard and associated to all XHTML tags. The XHTML attributes can be divided in 3 types:

• Core Attributes
• Language Attributes
• Microsoft Proprietary Attributes

Core Attributes

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

Attribute	Value	Description
class	class_rule or style_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 mouse tip.

Language Attributes

The lang attribute specifies the language which is used for the enclosed content. It uses the ISO standard language abbreviations like fr for French, en for English, and so on.

The language attribute is 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.

Microsoft Proprietary Attributes

Microsoft introduced a number of new proprietary attributes with the Internet Explorer 4 and higher versions.

accesskey	character	Sets a keyboard shortcut to access an element.
language	string	This attribute specifies the scripting language to be used with an associated script bound to the element, typically through an event handler attribute. Possible values might include JavaScript, jScript, VBS, and VBScript.
tabindex	number	Sets the tab order of an element.
contenteditable	boolean	Allows users to edit content rendered in Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater. Possible values are true or false.
disabled	boolean	Elements with the disabled attribute set may appear faded and will not respond to user input. Possible values are true or false.
hidefocus	on or off	This proprietary attribute, introduced with Internet Explorer 5.5, hides focus on an element's content. Focus must be applied to the element using the tabindex attribute.
unselectable	on or off	Used to prevent content displayed in Internet Explorer 5.5 from being selected.