HTML <s> Tag

The HTML <s> tag represents text that is no longer accurate or no longer relevant.

Browsers usually render <s> text with a line through the middle. This resembles text that has been "crossed out" due to it being no longer accurate or relevant.

Syntax

The <s> tag is written as <s></s> with the irrelevant/inaccurate text inserted between the start and end tags.

Like this:

Examples

Basic tag usage

Not for Document Edits

The <s> tag should not be used to represent document edits. To mark text as having been removed from a document, use the <del> tag.

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 <s> element accepts the following attributes.

Element-Specific Attributes

This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <s> tag/element.

AttributeDescription
None 

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <s> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

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 <s> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.

Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5

HTML 4 defined the <s> element only in terms of presentation (i.e. text with a strike through the middle).

HTML5 has given the <s> element a specific semantic purpose, which is to represent contents that are no longer accurate or no longer relevant.

The <s> element had initially been marked as deprecated from HTML 4.01 and obsolete from HTML5. However, in 2010 it was reintroduced as a valid HTML5 element.

To see more detail on the two versions see HTML5 <s> Tag and HTML4 <s> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.

Template

Here's a template for the <s> 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 <s> Tag and HTML4 <s> Tag.

Tag Details

For more details about the <s> tag, see HTML5 <s> Tag and HTML4 <s> Tag.

Specifications

Here are the official specifications for the <s> element.

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.