HTML <caption> Tag
The HTML <caption>
tag is used for creating captions for the <table>
element. A <caption>
element represents the title of the table.
The <caption>
element can be useful when it's not apparent what the data in the table represents. This is often true when a data contains nothing but numbers, or a series of letters or symbols. The <caption>
element allows you to provide a context for the data in the table.
Syntax
The <caption>
tag is written as <caption>
</caption>
with the caption content inserted between the start and end tags. It must appear as the first child of a <table>
element.
Like this:
Examples
Basic tag usage
This example shows a basic sample caption in a table. Although the <caption>
tag is located inside the <table>
tag, most (if not all) browsers display the caption outside the table.
Actual Usage
Here is an example of where the <caption>
element can come in handy.
Note that you can use any flow content (except for the <table>
element) within the <caption>
element. So you can use the <p>
tag to create paragraphs within the <caption>
element, as well as other tags as required.
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The <caption>
element accepts the following attributes.
Element-Specific Attributes
This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <caption>
tag/element.
Attribute | Description |
---|---|
None |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <caption>
tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
- accesskey
- class
- contenteditable
- contextmenu
- dir
- draggable
- dropzone
- hidden
- id
- inert
- itemid
- itemprop
- itemref
- itemscope
- itemtype
- lang
- spellcheck
- style
- tabindex
- title
- translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.
Again, you can use any of these with the <caption>
element, as well as any other HTML5 element.
- onabort
- oncancel
- onblur
- oncanplay
- oncanplaythrough
- onchange
- onclick
- oncontextmenu
- ondblclick
- ondrag
- ondragend
- ondragenter
- ondragexit
- ondragleave
- ondragover
- ondragstart
- ondrop
- ondurationchange
- onemptied
- onended
- onerror
- onfocus
- onformchange
- onforminput
- oninput
- oninvalid
- onkeydown
- onkeypress
- onkeyup
- onload
- onloadeddata
- onloadedmetadata
- onloadstart
- onmousedown
- onmousemove
- onmouseout
- onmouseover
- onmouseup
- onmousewheel
- onpause
- onplay
- onplaying
- onprogress
- onratechange
- onreadystatechange
- onscroll
- onseeked
- onseeking
- onselect
- onshow
- onstalled
- onsubmit
- onsuspend
- ontimeupdate
- onvolumechange
- onwaiting
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5
The align
element (which was deprecated in HTML 4) is obsolete in HTML5. Use the CSS align
property to set the horizontal alignment. You can also use vertical-align
to set the vertical alignment if required.
To see more detail on the two versions see HTML5 <caption>
Tag and HTML4 <caption>
Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.
Template
Here's a template for the <caption>
tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.
For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <caption>
Tag and HTML4 <caption>
Tag.
Tag Details
For more details about the <caption>
tag, see HTML5 <caption>
Tag and HTML4 <caption>
Tag.
Specifications
Here are the official specifications for the <caption>
element.
- HTML5 Specification (W3C)
- HTML Living Standard (WHATWG)
- Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
- HTML 4 (W3C)
What's the Difference?
W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.