Page 159 - HTML5

Chapter 41: Void Elements

Introduction

Not all HTML tags are of the same structure. While most elements require an opening tag, a
closing tag, and contents, some elements - known as void elements - only require an opening tag
as they themselves do not contain any elements. This topic explains and demonstrates the proper
usage of void elements in HTML

Remarks

A void element cannot have any content but may have attributes. Void elements are self-closing,
so they must not have a closing tag.

In HTML5, the following elements are void:

• area
• base
• br
• col
• embed
• hr
• img
• input
• keygen
• link
• meta
• param
• source
• track
• wbr

Examples

Void elements

HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 Strict includes the following void elements:

• area - clickable, defined area in an image
• base - specifies a base URL from which all links base
• br - line break
• col - column in a table [deprecated]
• hr - horizontal rule (line)
• img - image
• input - field where users enter data
• link - links an external resource to the document
• meta - provides information about the document
• param - defines parameters for plugins

HTML 5 standards include all non-deprecated tags from the previous list and

• command - represents a command users can invoke [obsolete]
• keygen - facilitates public key generation for web certificates [deprecated]
• source - specifies media sources for picture, audio, and video elements
The example below does not include void elements:

<div>
<a href="http://stackoverflow.com/">
<h3>Click here to visit <i>Stack Overflow!</i></h3>

https://riptutorial.com/ 143