Content-Based Style

Content-based tags deal with identifying words, phrases or chunks of text, or images as having a specific meaning or context. The intent of content-based tags is not to show physically marked text. However, it is not wrong for a browser to show content-based text in a distinct style, such as font style.

Each content-based tag is shown with a brief description, and any physical effects imposed by the browser.

• <abbr> indicates an abbreviation. Using this tag has no effect.
• <address> indicates an address. Using this tag has no effect.
• <acronym> indicates an acronym. The enclosed text is shown in an italic font.
• <cite> indicates a bibliographic citation or reference. The enclosed text is shown in an italic font.
• <code> indicates source code of a program. The enclosed text is shown in a monospaced font.
• <del> indicates deleted text. It is intended to show editorial markup. The enclosed text is shown with a line through it.
• <dfn> indicates a definition for a term. This is normally used with the first appearance of a term in a document. The enclosed text is shown in an italic font.
• <em> indicates emphasis on a string of text. This is the contextual equivalent of using the <i> (italic) tag. The enclosed text is shown in an italic font.
• <ins> indicates inserted text. It is intended to show editorial markup. The enclosed text is shown underlined.
• <kbd> indicates keyboard input. This is similar to the <code> tag, but with a different contextual intent. The enclosed text is shown in a monospaced font.
• <samp> indicates literal text. The enclosed text is shown in a monospaced font.
• <strong> indicates emphasis on some text, but in a stronger contextual sense than the <em> tag. This is the contextual equivalent of using the <b> (bold) tag. The enclosed text is shown in a bold font.
• <var> indicates source code variables. This is similar to the <code> tag, but with a different contextual intent. The enclosed text is shown in an italic font.