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HTML5 Cookbook

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Table of Contents

HTML5 Cookbook

Preface

1. Fundamental Syntax and Semantics

Introduction

1.1. Specifying the DOCTYPE

1.2. Specifying the Character Set

1.3. Specifying the Language

1.4. Optimizing <script>s and <link>s

1.5. Adding Document Structure with HTML5’s New Elements

1.6. Choosing Between <article> and <section>

1.7. Checking Your Document Outline

1.8. Modifying the Document Outline

1.9. Emphasizing Text

1.10. Adding Importance to Text

1.11. Highlighting Text for Reference

1.12. Marking Up Small Print

1.13. Defining Acronyms and Abbreviations

1.14. Adding Links to Block-Level Content

1.15. Marking Up Figures and Captions

1.16. Marking Up Dates and Times

1.17. Setting the Stage for Native Expanding and Collapsing

1.18. Controlling the Numbering of Your Lists

1.19. Hiding Content to Show Later

1.20. Making Portions of a Page Editable

1.21. Setting the Stage for Native Drag-and-Drop

2. Progressive Markup and Techniques

3. Forms

4. Native Audio

5. Native Video

6. Microdata and Custom Data

7. Accessibility

8. Geolocation

9. <canvas>

10. Advanced HTML5 JavaScript

1.3. Specifying the Language

Problem

You want to specify the primary language of your web page.

Solution

Add the lang attribute and appropriate value to your opening html element:

<html lang="en">

Discussion

Browsers, screen readers, and other user agents use the lang attribute to determine the language in which the content should be interpreted. The example above specifies English via the en value.

Declaring a document’s primary language isn’t a requirement for HTML5 (or any of the previous versions, for that matter). It is, however, a good practice for both usability and accessibility.

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Contents

1. Fundamental Syntax and Semantics > 1.3. Specifying the Language

1.3. Specifying the Language

Problem

Solution

Discussion

See Also