HTML Semantic Phrase Markup Summary

CITE, CODE, DFN, EM, KBD, Q, SAMP, STRIKE, STRONG, VAR

Usage:                <NAME>...(</NAME>)  
Can Contain:       characters, character highlighting, A, APPLET, BR, IMG,
                           BASEFONT, MAP, SCRIPT, INPUT, SELECT, TEXTAREA                           
Can Be Inside:    ADDRESS, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, CENTER, DIV, FORM, PRE,
                          DD, DT, LI, P, TD, TH, Hn,
                          A, CAPTION, character highlighting
Attributes:           none

• CITE - <CITE>citation</CITE>. This is citation text.
• CODE - <CODE>typed code</CODE>. This is code text.
• DFN - <DFN>defining instance or definition</DFN>. This is defining instance or definition text.
• EM - <EM>emphasis</EM>. This is emphasized text.
• KBD - <KBD>keyboard input</KBD>. This is keyboard input text.
• Q - <Q>short quotation</Q>. This is short quotation text
• SAMP - <SAMP>literal characters</SAMP>. This is literal character text.
• STRIKE - <STRIKE>struck-out text</STRIKE>. This is strike-out text.
• STRONG - <STRONG>strong emphasized text</STRONG>. This is strongly emphasized text.
• VAR - <VAR>variable</VAR>. This is a variable text.

CITE Element: <CITE>citation</CITE>
CITE marks a small citation--for example, a book or other document reference. Typically, this block of text will be rendered in italics, subject to the capabilities of the browser.

CODE Element: <CODE>typed code</CODE>
The CODE element marks a selection of typed computer code--for example, a single line of code from a program. Large selections of code should be displayed using a PRE element, which properly reproduces space characters and line breaks. CODE element should be rendered in a fixed-width typewriter font.

DFN Element: <DFN>defining instance or definition</DFN>
DFN marks a selection of text as the defining instance of a term. The text content should be rendered in italics, or unmodified font.

EM Element: <EM>emphasis</EM>
EM marks a block of text for emphasis. Typically, the marked block of text is rendered in italics, subject to the capabilities of the browser; lynx represents EM emphasized text by an underline.

KBD Element: <KBD>keyboard input</KBD>
KBD marks a block of text as keyboard input. Typically, the marked block of text is rendered in fixed-width typerwriter font.

Q Element: <Q>short quotation</Q>
Q marks a short quotation, in contrast to BLOCKQUOTE, which marks large blocks of quoted text. The content of Q will typically be rendered in quotation marks appropriate to the language context (as set by the LANG attribute). For example, in an English language context the text would be surrounded by single or double quotation marks.

• Attributes: Q attributes are the same attributes for BDO element.
  • CLASS="string". Specifies a subclass name for the element. Subclassing is used to define the special nature of an element, such as CLASS="introduction", CLASS="verse", and so on. Stylesheet can bind to these specific classes, so that an author can specify special formatting for different classes of the same element. Examples:
  • DIR="ltr", "rtl". Specifies the base directionality for the text flow within the element, where the default is inherited from the surrounding elements. The possible values are "ltr" (left to right), "rtl" (right to left). This attribute allows for what is known as bi-directional text, or BIDI--that is, text segments that read left to right in some places, right to left in others.
  • ID="name". Specifies the unique element identifier for the element, as a name token. In principle, ID-labeled elements can be the targets of the hypertext links, as ID plays the same role as the NAME attribute of the anchor element. This aspect of ID is not supported by most browsers. Stylesheets can also reference ID-labeled elements, and can use ID to apply formatting instructions to specific elements.
  • STYLE="string". Contains stylesheet instruction that should be applied to the content of SPAN. There is no way specifying the stylesheet language of STYLE attribute content
  • LANG="name". Specifies the language of the document, and possibly the national variant of that language. Examples: en-US (American English); en-cockney (Cockney dialect of English); x-romulan (Romulan language); ar-EG (Egyptian Arabic); fr (French).

SAMP Element: <SAMP>literal characters</SAMP>
SAMP marks a block of text as a sequence of literal or sample characters. Typically, the marked block of text is rendered in fixed-width typewriter font.

STRIKE Element: <STRIKE>struck-out text</STRIKE>
STRIKE marks a block of text to be struck-out for some logical reason (typically, to indicate text has been deleted). Lynx may render this in reverse-video.

STRONG Element: <STRONG>strong emphasized text</STRONG>
STRONG marks a block of text for strong emphasis. Typically, the marked block of text is rendered in boldface. Lynx uses underline.

VAR Element: <VAR>variable</VAR>
VAR marks a variable. Typically, the variable is rendered in italics or bold italics.