Global HTML Attributes: title, lang, hidden and style

Some attributes can be used on almost any element. They are called global attributes. These are the ones you will use most often outside of id and class, which have their own lesson next.

title

title adds extra information, which many browsers show as a tooltip when you hover.

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<abbr title="HyperText Markup Language">HTML</abbr>

Do not rely on title for important information. Touch screens and keyboards often cannot show tooltips.

lang

lang says what language the content is in. Set it on <html>, and override it on a smaller element when you switch languages.

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<p>The French word for book is <span lang="fr">livre</span>.</p>

Screen readers use lang to choose the right pronunciation.

hidden

hidden removes an element from the page until something shows it again.

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<p>Always visible.</p>
<p hidden>This paragraph is hidden.</p>

style

style applies CSS directly to one element.

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<p style="color: #b84624;">A terracotta paragraph.</p>

This works, but use it sparingly. Styles written in a stylesheet are easier to reuse and change. You will compare the options in Inline CSS.

Other useful globals