HTML 5

Draft Standard — 3 July 2009

12 Obsolete features

Authors and documents must not use the features listed in this section. They are documented to enable user agents to support legacy content in an interoperable fashion.

The following elements are entirely obsolete:

applet

Use embed or object instead.

acronym

Use abbr instead.

dir

Use ul instead.

frame
frameset
noframes

Use iframe and CSS instead.

isindex

Use an explicit form and text field combination instead.

noembed

Use object instead of embed when fallback is necessary.

basefont
big
blink
center
font
marquee
s
spacer
strike
tt
u

Use CSS instead.

The following attributes are obsolete (though the elements are still part of the language):

charset on a elements
charset on link elements

Use an HTTP Content-Type header on the linked resource instead.

coords on a elements
shape on a elements

Use area instead of a for image maps.

rev on a elements
rev on link elements

Use the rel attribute instead, with an opposite term. (For example, instead of rev="made", use rel="author".)

name on a elements
name on img elements

Use the id attribute instead.

nohref on area elements

Omitting the href attribute is sufficient; the nohref attribute is unnecessary. Omit it altogether.

profile on head elements

When used for declaring which meta terms are used in the document, unnecessary; omit it altogether, and register the names.

When used for triggering specific user agent behaviors: use a link element instead.

version on html elements

Unnecessary. Omit it altogether.

usemap on input elements

Use img instead of input for image maps.

longdesc on iframe elements
longdesc on img elements

Use a regular a element to link to the description.

target on link elements

Unnecessary. Omit it altogether.

scheme on meta elements

Use only one scheme per field, or make the scheme declaration part of the value.

archive on object elements
code on object elements
codebase on object elements
codetype on object elements

Use the data and type attributes to invoke plugins.

declare on object elements

Repeat the object element completely each time the resource is to be reused.

standby on object elements

Optimise the linked resource so that it loads quickly or, at least, incrementally.

type on param elements
valuetype on param elements

Use the name and value attributes without declaring value types.

summary on table elements

Use the caption element instead.

abbr on td and th elements

Use text that begins in an unambiguous and terse manner, and include any more elaborate text after that.

axis on td and th elements

Use the scope attribute.

alink on body elements
background on body elements
bgcolor on body elements
link on body elements
text on body elements
vlink on body elements
clear on br elements
align on caption elements
align on col elements
ch on col elements
chOff on col elements
valign on col elements
width on col elements
align on div elements
compact on dl elements
align on hr elements
noshade on hr elements
size on hr elements
width on hr elements
align on h1—h6 elements
align on iframe elements
frameborder on iframe elements
marginheight on iframe elements
marginwidth on iframe elements
scrolling on iframe elements
align on input elements
align on img elements
border on img elements
hspace on img elements
vspace on img elements
align on legend elements
type on li elements
compact on menu elements
align on object elements
border on object elements
hspace on object elements
vspace on object elements
compact on ol elements
type on ol elements
align on p elements
width on pre elements
align on table elements
bgcolor on table elements
border on table elements
cellpadding on table elements
cellspacing on table elements
frame on table elements
rules on table elements
width on table elements
align on tbody, thead, and tfoot elements
ch on tbody, thead, and tfoot elements
chOff on tbody, thead, and tfoot elements
valign on tbody, thead, and tfoot elements
align on td and th elements
bgColor on td and th elements
ch on td and th elements
chOff on td and th elements
height on td and th elements
noWrap on td and th elements
vAlign on td and th elements
width on td and th elements
align on tr elements
bgcolor on tr elements
ch on tr elements
chOff on tr elements
valign on tr elements
compact on ul elements
type on ul elements

Use CSS instead.

12.1 Self-contained features

12.1.1 The applet element

The applet element is a Java-specific variant of the embed element. The applet element is now obsoleted so that all extension frameworks (Java, .NET, Flash, etc) are handled in a consistent manner.

When the sandboxed plugins browsing context flag is set on the browsing context for which the applet element's document is the active document, and when the element has an ancestor object element that is not showing its fallback content, the element must be ignored (it represents nothing).

Otherwise, define how the element works, if supported.

The applet element must implement the HTMLAppletElement interface.

interface HTMLAppletElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString alt;
           attribute DOMString archive;
           attribute DOMString code;
           attribute DOMString codeBase;
           attribute DOMString height;
           attribute long hspace;
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute DOMString object;
           attribute long vspace;
           attribute DOMString width;
};

The align, alt, archive, code, height, hspace, name, object, vspace, and width DOM attributes must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The codeBase DOM attribute must reflect the codebase content attribute.

12.1.2 The marquee element

The marquee element is a presentational element that animates content. CSS transitions and animations are a more appropriate mechanism.

The task source for tasks mentioned in this section is the DOM manipulation task source.

The marquee element must implement the HTMLMarqueeElement interface.

interface HTMLMarqueeElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString behavior;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString direction;
           attribute DOMString height;
           attribute unsigned long hspace;
           attribute long loop;
           attribute unsigned long scrollAmount;
           attribute unsigned long scrollDelay;
           attribute DOMString trueSpeed;
           attribute unsigned long vspace;
           attribute DOMString width;

           attribute Function onbounce;
           attribute Function onfinish;
           attribute Function onstart;

  void start()
  void stop()
};

A marquee element can be turned on or turned off. When it is created, it is turned on.

When the start() method is called, the marquee element must be turned on.

When the stop() method is called, the marquee element must be turned off.

When a marquee element is created, the user agent must queue a task to fire a simple event called start at the element.

The behavior content attribute on marquee elements is an enumerated attribute with the following keywords (all non-conforming):

Keyword State
scroll scroll
slide slide
alternate alternate

The missing value default is the scroll state.

The direction content attribute on marquee elements is an enumerated attribute with the following keywords (all non-conforming):

Keyword State
left left
right right
up up
down down

The missing value default is the left state.

The truespeed content attribute on marquee elements is an enumerated attribute with the following keywords (all non-conforming):

Keyword State
true true
false false

The missing value default is the false state.

A marquee element has a marquee scroll interval, which is obtained as follows:

  1. If the element has a scrolldelay attribute, and parsing its value using the rules for parsing non-negative integers does not return an error, then let delay be the parsed value. Otherwise, let delay be 85.

  2. If the element does not have a truespeed attribute, or if it does but that attribute is in the false state, and the delay value is less than 60, then let delay be 60 instead.

  3. The marquee scroll interval is delay, interpreted in milliseconds.

A marquee element has a marquee scroll distance, which, if the element has a scrollamount attribute, and parsing its value using the rules for parsing non-negative integers does not return an error, is the parsed value interpreted in CSS pixels, and otherwise is 6 CSS pixels.

A marquee element has a marquee loop count, which, if the element has a loop attribute, and parsing its value using the rules for parsing integers does not return an error or a number less than 1, is the parsed value, and otherwise is −1.

The loop DOM attribute, on getting, must return the element's marquee loop count; and on setting, if the new value is different than the element's marquee loop count and either greater than zero or equal to −1, must set the element's loop content attribute (adding it if necessary) to the valid integer that represents the new value. (Other values are ignored.)

A marquee element also has a marquee current loop index, which is zero when the element is created.

The rendering layer will occasionally increment the marquee current loop index, which must cause the following steps to be run:

  1. If the marquee loop count is −1, then abort these steps.

  2. Increment the marquee current loop index by one.

  3. If the marquee current loop index is now equal to or greater than the element's marquee loop count, turn off the marquee element and queue a task to fire a simple event called finish at the marquee element.

    Otherwise, if the behavior attribute is in the alternate state, then queue a task to fire a simple event called bounce at the marquee element.

    Otherwise, queue a task to fire a simple event called start at the marquee element.

The following are the event handler attributes (and their corresponding event handler event types) that must be supported, as content and DOM attributes, by marquee elements:

event handler attribute Event handler event type
onbounce bounce
onfinish finish
onstart start

The behavior, direction, height, hspace, vspace, and width DOM attributes must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The bgColor DOM attribute must reflect the bgcolor content attribute.

The scrollAmount DOM attribute must reflect the scrollamount content attribute. The default value is 6.

The scrollDelay DOM attribute must reflect the scrolldelay content attribute. The default value is 85.

The trueSpeed DOM attribute must reflect the truespeed content attribute.

12.1.3 Frames

The frameset element acts as the body element in documents that use frames.

The frameset element must implement the HTMLFrameSetElement interface.

interface HTMLFrameSetElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString cols;
           attribute DOMString rows;
           attribute Function onafterprint;
           attribute Function onbeforeprint;
           attribute Function onbeforeunload;
           attribute Function onblur;
           attribute Function onerror;
           attribute Function onfocus;
           attribute Function onhashchange;
           attribute Function onload;
           attribute Function onmessage;
           attribute Function onoffline;
           attribute Function ononline;
           attribute Function onpopstate;
           attribute Function onredo;
           attribute Function onresize;
           attribute Function onstorage;
           attribute Function onundo;
           attribute Function onunload;
};

The cols and rows DOM attributes of the frameset element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The frameset element must support the following event handler content attributes exposing the event handler attributes of the Window object:

The DOM interface also exposes event handler DOM attributes that mirror those on the Window element.

The onblur, onerror, onfocus, and onload event handler attributes of the Window object, exposed on the frameset element, shadow the generic event handler attributes with the same names normally supported by HTML elements.

The frame element defines a nested browsing context similar to the iframe element, but rendered within a frameset element.

When the browsing context is created, if a src attribute is present, the user agent must resolve the value of that attribute, relative to the element, and if that is successful, must then navigate the element's browsing context to the resulting absolute URL, with replacement enabled, and with the frame element's document's browsing context as the source browsing context.

Whenever the src attribute is set, the user agent must resolve the value of that attribute, relative to the element, and if that is successful, the nested browsing context must be navigated to the resulting absolute URL, with the frame element's document's browsing context as the source browsing context.

When the browsing context is created, if a name attribute is present, the browsing context name must be set to the value of this attribute; otherwise, the browsing context name must be set to the empty string.

Whenever the name attribute is set, the nested browsing context's name must be changed to the new value. If the attribute is removed, the browsing context name must be set to the empty string.

When content loads in a frame, after any load events are fired within the content itself, the user agent must fire a simple event called load at the frame element. When content fails to load (e.g. due to a network error), then the user agent must fire a simple event called error at the element instead.

When there is an active parser in the frame, and when anything in the frame is delaying the load event of the frame's browsing context's active document, the frame must delay the load event of its document.

The frame element must implement the HTMLFrameElement interface.

interface HTMLFrameElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString frameBorder;
           attribute DOMString longDesc;
           attribute DOMString marginHeight;
           attribute DOMString marginWidth;
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute boolean noResize;
           attribute DOMString scrolling;
           attribute DOMString src;
  readonly attribute Document contentDocument;
};

The name, scrolling, and src DOM attributes of the frame element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The frameBorder DOM attribute of the frame element must reflect the element's frameborder content attribute.

The longDesc DOM attribute of the frame element must reflect the element's longdesc content attribute.

The marginHeight DOM attribute of the frame element must reflect the element's marginheight content attribute.

The marginWidth DOM attribute of the frame element must reflect the element's marginwidth content attribute.

The noResize DOM attribute of the frame element must reflect the element's noresize content attribute.

The contentDocument DOM attribute of the frame element must return the Document object of the active document of the frame element's nested browsing context.

12.2 Other elements, attributes and APIs

[Supplemental] interface HTMLAnchorElement {
           attribute DOMString coords;
           attribute DOMString charset;
           attribute DOMString rev;
           attribute DOMString shape;
};

The coords, charset, rev, and shape DOM attributes of the a element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLAreaElement {
           attribute boolean noHref;
};

The noHref DOM attribute of the area element must reflect the element's nohref content attribute.

The basefont element must implement the HTMLBaseFontElement interface.

interface HTMLBaseFontElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString color;
           attribute DOMString face;
           attribute long size; 
};

The color, face, and size DOM attributes of the basefont element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLBodyElement {
           attribute DOMString text;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString background;
           attribute DOMString link;
           attribute DOMString vLink;
           attribute DOMString aLink;
};

The text DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's text content attribute.

The bgColor DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's bgcolor content attribute.

The background DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's background content attribute. (The background content is not defined to contain a URL, despite rules regarding its handling in the rendering section above.)

The link DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's link content attribute.

The aLink DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's alink content attribute.

The vLink DOM attribute of the body element must reflect the element's vlink content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLBRElement {
           attribute DOMString clear;
};

The clear DOM attribute of the br element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableCaptionElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
};

The align DOM attribute of the caption element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableColElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString ch;
           attribute DOMString chOff;
           attribute DOMString vAlign;
           attribute DOMString width;
};

The align, ch, and width, DOM attributes of the col element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The chOff DOM attribute of the col element must reflect the element's choff content attribute.

The vAlign DOM attribute of the col element must reflect the element's valign content attribute.

The dir element must implement the HTMLDirectoryElement interface.

interface HTMLDirectoryElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString compact;
};

The compact DOM attribute of the dir element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLDivElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
};

The align DOM attribute of the div element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLDListElement {
           attribute DOMString compact;
};

The compact DOM attribute of the dl element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

The font element must implement the HTMLFontElement interface.

interface HTMLFontElement : HTMLElement {
           attribute DOMString color;
           attribute DOMString face;
           attribute DOMString size; 
};

The color, face, and size DOM attributes of the font element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLHeadingElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
};

The align DOM attribute of the h1–h6 elements must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLHeadElement {
           attribute DOMString profile;
};

The profile DOM attribute of the head element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLHRElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute boolean noShade;
           attribute DOMString size;
           attribute DOMString width;
};

The align, size, and width DOM attributes of the hr element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The noShade DOM attribute of the hr element must reflect the element's noshade content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLHtmlElement {
           attribute DOMString version;
};

The version DOM attribute of the html element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLIFrameElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString frameBorder;
           attribute DOMString longDesc;
           attribute DOMString marginHeight;
           attribute DOMString marginWidth;
           attribute DOMString scrolling;
};

The name and scrolling DOM attributes of the iframe element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The frameBorder DOM attribute of the iframe element must reflect the element's iframeborder content attribute.

The longDesc DOM attribute of the iframe element must reflect the element's longdesc content attribute.

The marginHeight DOM attribute of the iframe element must reflect the element's marginheight content attribute.

The marginWidth DOM attribute of the iframe element must reflect the element's marginwidth content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLImageElement {
           attribute DOMString name;
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString border;
           attribute long hspace;
           attribute DOMString longDesc;
           attribute long vspace;
};

The name, align, border, hspace, and vspace DOM attributes of the img element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The longDesc DOM attribute of the img element must reflect the element's longdesc content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLInputElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString useMap;
};

The align DOM attribute of the input element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

The useMap DOM attribute of the input element must reflect the element's usemap content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLLegendElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
};

The align DOM attribute of the legend element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLLIElement {
           attribute DOMString type;
};

The type DOM attribute of the li element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLLinkElement {
           attribute DOMString charset;
           attribute DOMString rev;
           attribute DOMString target;
};

The charset, rev, and target DOM attributes of the link element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLMenuElement {
           attribute DOMString compact;
};

The compact DOM attribute of the menu element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLMetaElement {
           attribute DOMString scheme;
};

The scheme DOM attribute of the meta element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLObjectElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString archive;
           attribute DOMString border;
           attribute DOMString code;
           attribute DOMString codeBase;
           attribute DOMString codeType;
           attribute boolean declare;
           attribute long hspace;
           attribute DOMString standby;
           attribute long vspace;
};

The align, archive, border, code, declare, hspace, standby, and vspace DOM attributes of the object element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The codeBase DOM attribute of the object element must reflect the element's codebase content attribute.

The codeType DOM attribute of the object element must reflect the element's codetype content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLOListElement {
           attribute DOMString compact;
           attribute DOMString type;
};

The compact and type DOM attributes of the ol element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLParagraphElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
};

The align DOM attribute of the p element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLParamElement {
           attribute DOMString type;
           attribute DOMString valueType;
};

The type DOM attribute of the param element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

The valueType DOM attribute of the param element must reflect the element's valuetype content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLPreElement {
           attribute long width;
};

The width DOM attribute of the pre element must reflect the content attribute of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLScriptElement {
           attribute DOMString event;
           attribute DOMString htmlFor;
};

The event and htmlFor DOM attributes of the script element must return the empty string on getting, and do nothing on setting.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString border;
           attribute DOMString cellPadding;
           attribute DOMString cellSpacing;
           attribute DOMString frame;
           attribute DOMString rules;
           attribute DOMString summary;
           attribute DOMString width;
};

The align, border, frame, rules, summary, and width, DOM attributes of the table element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The bgColor DOM attribute of the table element must reflect the element's bgcolor content attribute.

The cellPadding DOM attribute of the table element must reflect the element's cellpadding content attribute.

The cellSpacing DOM attribute of the table element must reflect the element's cellspacing content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableSectionElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString ch;
           attribute DOMString chOff;
           attribute DOMString vAlign;
};

The align and ch DOM attributes of the tbody, thead, and tfoot elements must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The chOff DOM attribute of the tbody, thead, and tfoot elements must reflect the elements' choff content attributes.

The vAlign DOM attribute of the tbody, thead, and tfoot element must reflect the elements' valign content attributes.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableCellElement {
           attribute DOMString abbr;
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString axis;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString ch;
           attribute DOMString chOff;
           attribute DOMString height;
           attribute boolean noWrap;
           attribute DOMString vAlign;
           attribute DOMString width;
};

The abbr, align, axis, ch, height, and width DOM attributes of the td and th elements must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The bgColor DOM attribute of the td and th elements must reflect the elements' bgcolor content attributes.

The chOff DOM attribute of the td and th elements must reflect the elements' choff content attributes.

The noWrap DOM attribute of the td and th elements must reflect the elements' nowrap content attributes.

The vAlign DOM attribute of the td and th element must reflect the elements' valign content attributes.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLTableRowElement {
           attribute DOMString align;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString ch;
           attribute DOMString chOff;
           attribute DOMString vAlign;
};

The align and ch DOM attributes of the tr element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

The bgColor DOM attribute of the tr element must reflect the element's bgcolor content attribute.

The chOff DOM attribute of the tr element must reflect the element's choff content attribute.

The vAlign DOM attribute of the tr element must reflect the element's valign content attribute.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLUListElement {
           attribute DOMString compact;
           attribute DOMString type;
};

The compact and type DOM attributes of the ul element must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.

[Supplemental] interface HTMLDocument {
           attribute DOMString fgColor;
           attribute DOMString bgColor;
           attribute DOMString linkColor;
           attribute DOMString vlinkColor;
           attribute DOMString alinkColor;

  readonly attribute HTMLCollection anchors;
  readonly attribute HTMLCollection applets;

  readonly attribute HTMLCollection all;
};

The fgColor attribute on the Document object must reflect the text attribute on the body element.

The bgColor attribute on the Document object must reflect the bgcolor attribute on the body element.

The linkColor attribute on the Document object must reflect the link attribute on the body element.

The vLinkColor attribute on the Document object must reflect the vlink attribute on the body element.

The aLinkColor attribute on the Document object must reflect the alink attribute on the body element.

For the above attributes, when there is no body element, the attributes must instead return the empty string on getting and do nothing on setting.

The anchors attribute must return an HTMLCollection rooted at the Document node, whose filter matches only a elements with name attributes.

The applets attribute must return an HTMLCollection rooted at the Document node, whose filter matches only applet elements.

The all attribute must return an HTMLCollection rooted at the Document node, whose filter matches all elements.

The user agent must act as if the ToBoolean() operator in JavaScript converted the object returned for all to the false value.

This is a willful violation of the JavaScript specification current at the time of writing (ECMAScript edition 3). The JavaScript specification requires that the ToBoolean() operator convert all objects to the true value. This violation is motivated by a desire for compatibility with legacy content. [ECMA262]

12.3 Conformance checkers

To ease the transition from HTML4 Transitional documents to the language defined in this specification, conformance checkers are encouraged to categorize errors that represent usage of old obsolete features that generally have no effect (as defined below) into a separate part of their report, to allow authors to distinguish between likely mistakes and mere vestigial markup.

The following errors may be categorized as described above: