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HTML legend tag

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Table of contents

Bypass table of contents

1 Description
2 Examples
3 Attributes
1. 3.1 id
2. 3.2 class
3. 3.3 style
4. 3.4 title
5. 3.5 lang
6. 3.6 dir
7. 3.7 accesskey
8. 3.8 align
4 Events

Bypass main content

Description

The HTML legend element assigns a title for a fieldset (HTML fieldset element), and must be defined right after the fieldset starting tag. This title is shown by default in the top-left corner of the fieldset's frame but this visual aspect can be changed using style sheets.

Note that the "align" attribute in this element has been deprecated in HTML 4.01, which represents a good reason to stop using it.

Examples

The following example shows a form with two fieldsets, each with its own legend.

Code

<form action="example.php">
<fieldset>
<legend>Personal information</legend>
Name: <input type="text" name="pname" />
Address: <input type="text" name="paddress" />
Phone: <input type="text" name="pphone" />
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<legend>Work information</legend>
Address: <input type="text" name="waddress" />
Phone: <input type="text" name="wphone" />
</fieldset>
</form>

View

Personal information Name:
Address:
Phone:

Work information Address:
Phone:

Attributes

id (name)

The "id" attribute assigns an identifier to the associated element. This identifier must be unique in the document and can be used to refer to that element in other instances (e.g., from client-side scripts).

<p id="paragraph1">This is the first paragraph, named "paragraph1". To dynamically change its properties use this identifier.</p>

class (cdata)

The "class" attribute assigns a class name (or a list of class names separated by spaces) to the container element. It's used together with style sheets and tells the browser the class (or classes) to which the element is associated with.

A class gives presentational attributes to elements (read more at the Cascading Style Sheets tutorial).

<p class="references">This article is based on the book "Wind in the trees" by Jhon L. Brooks</p>
<p class="references important">This article is based on the book "Wind in the trees" by Jhon L. Brooks... and is more important than the one before.</p>

style (style)

This attribute is used to define presentational attributes for the containing element, and its value should be composed by style sheets properties. Although, in some cases, it can become useful, a better practice is to place presentational attributes in external files, relating them to elements with the "class" attribute. This way you keep the semantic and presentational parts of your document separated.

You can find more information about presentational attributes at the Cascading Style Sheets tutorial.

<p style="color: #0000FF; font-size: 12pt">This is a paragraph with a defined style.</p>
<p>And this is another text without style.</p>

title (text)

The purpose of this attribute is to provide a title for the element. Its value must be a short and accurate description of the element. Browsers usually render it as a "tool tip" when the user puts the mouse pointer over the element for a small period of time.

Code

View

HTML code

lang (langcode)

Specifies the language of an element's content. The default value in "unknown".

When writing XHTML 1.0 documents, the attribute used to specify the language of an elements is "xml:lang". For forward and backward compatibility both attributes can be used simultaneously like in the example below. Note, that in XHTML 1.1 the "lang" attribute has been completely replaced by "xml:lang" and its use is no longer valid.

<p lang="en" xml:lang="en">This is a paragraph in english.</p>
<p lang="es" xml:lang="es">Este es un párrafo en español.</p>

dir

This attribute indicates the direction in which the texts of the element must be read. This includes content, attribute values and tables. It has two possible values that are case-insensitive:

RTL: Right to left.
LTR: Left to right.

<q lang="he" dir="rtl">...an Hebrew quotation...</q>

accesskey (character)

Relates the element to a character key. Most browsers allow users to access the element by pressing that key while holding down the "alt" key. The activation result depends on the element's nature. For links, this action automatically follows the link, while other elements simply get the focus.

<a href="http://www.htmlquick.com/" accesskey="H">Homepage</a>

align

This attribute has been deprecated in HTML 4.01. Therefore its use is no longer recommended.

Deicides the position of the legend according to the fieldset where it's declared. Its possible values (case-insensitive) are:

top: The legend is located at the top of the fieldset.
bottom: The legend is located at the bottom of the fieldset.
left: The legend is located at the left of the fieldset.
right: The legend is located at the right of the fieldset.

<legend align="top">Personal information</legend>

Events

onclick
ondblclick
onmousedown
onmouseup
onmouseover
onmousemove
onmouseout
onkeypress
onkeydown
onkeyup

See a complete list and information about events in HTML