XHTML/XHTML Attributes

In XHTML, attributes are used to give additional context or description to an element. Most commonly, you will see them as hyperlinks, but they also aid in the presentation of the text.

Common attributes

Attribute	Description
class	Assigns a class to an XHTML element; used to assist in reader interpretation (such as style sheets.)
style	Assigns a style to an XHTML element. This applies to one element; for multiple items or layout, you may want to use classes.
id xml:id	Assigns a unique id to an element within the document. Used for anchor targets.
title	Provides a title to an element (such as a link).
xml:lang	Specifies the language of an element.

Formatting attributes

Attribute	Description
edit	Used to indicate a change in text. May be "inserted", "deleted", "changed" or "moved".
datetime	Indicates a time something was changed. Normally used in combination with edit attribute.
dir	Direction of text, for use with left-to-right or right-to-left languages. May be one of "ltr", "rtl", "lro", or "rlo"
layout	Either "irrelevant" (default) or "relevant" (as with the <pre> tag). Determines whether excess whitespace is ignored.
media	Specifies the content the media is intended to be displayed on; it is ignored if it doesn't match. Defaults to "all", but may be "aural", "braille", "embossed", "handheld", "print", "projection", "screen", "tty", "tv", or other value not-yet specified.

Hyperlinking

Attribute	Description
cite	Indicates that the material in question arrived from a different source.
href	Indicates a destination when a link is activated or clicked on.
hreflang	Indicates the language of the given link.
hrefmedia	Indicates the type of media of the given link.
hreftype	Descrives the type of content from the link (e.g. "text/html").
nextfocus prevfocus	Determines the order for the elements concerning user input. Implementation specific.
target	Determines the environment where the link will be opened.
key	Determines the access key for the element.
targetid	Used in combination with the key attribute. Specifies which element receives the event when a key is pressed.
targetrole	Specifies the role of the target.
xml:base	Specifies the base URL, when relative links are used in the document.
rel	When used with href, identifies the relation of the linked document. May be one of "alernate", "start", "next", "prev", "up", "contents", "index", "glossary", "copyright", "chapter", "section", "subsection", "appendix", "help", "bookmark", "meta", "icon", "p3pv1" (policy reference file), "profile", "role", and "cite".
rev	The inversion of rel; the document referenced by href has the designated relationship with this document.