abbr: The Abbreviation element

When including an abbreviation or acronym, provide a full expansion of the term in plain text on first use, along with the <abbr> to mark up the abbreviation. This informs the user what the abbreviation or acronym means.

The optional title attribute can provide an expansion for the abbreviation or acronym when a full expansion is not present. This provides a hint to user agents on how to announce/display the content while informing all users what the abbreviation means. If present, title must contain this full description and nothing else.

Attributes

Specific attributes

Recommended attributes

title="[meaning of abbreviation]" The title attribute has a specific semantic meaning when used with the <abbr> element; it must contain a full human-readable description or expansion of the abbreviation. This text is often presented by browsers as a tooltip when the mouse cursor is hovered over the element.

Global attributes

accesskey Specifies a keyboard shortcut to activate or focus an element.

aria-* Defines accessibility properties and states for assistive technologies.

class Specifies one or more CSS class names for styling the element.

data-* Stores custom data private to the page or application.

dir Sets the text direction (left-to-right, right-to-left, or auto).

hidden Hides the element from display and assistive technologies.

id Defines a unique identifier for the element within the document.

inputmode Hints which virtual keyboard type to display on mobile devices.

itemid Provides a global identifier for microdata items.

itemprop Defines a property name-value pair for microdata.

itemref Associates properties with an item via element IDs for microdata.

itemscope Creates a new microdata item container.

itemtype Specifies the vocabulary URL for microdata items (like Schema.org).

lang Specifies the primary language of the element’s content.

nonce Provides a cryptographic nonce for Content Security Policy.

role Defines the element’s semantic role for accessibility.

tabindex Controls keyboard navigation order and focusability.

title Provides advisory information displayed as a tooltip.

Example

<p>I like <abbr title="HyperText Markup Language">HTML</abbr>!</p>