🔒 EXCLUSIVE: TR/html/textlevel semantics.html - High Quality

[Exposed=Window]
interface HTMLAnchorElement : HTMLElement {
  [HTMLConstructor] constructor();

  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute DOMString target;
  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute DOMString download;
  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute USVString ping;
  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute DOMString rel;
  [SameObject, PutForwards=value, Reflect="rel"] readonly attribute DOMTokenList relList;
  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute DOMString hreflang;
  [CEReactions, Reflect] attribute DOMString type;

  [CEReactions] attribute DOMString text;

  [CEReactions] attribute DOMString referrerPolicy;

  // also has obsolete members
};
HTMLAnchorElement includes HTMLHyperlinkElementUtils;

If the a element has an href attribute, then it represents a hyperlink (a hypertext anchor) labeled by its contents.

If the a element has no href attribute, then the element represents a placeholder for where a link might otherwise have been placed, if it had been relevant, consisting of just the element's contents.

The target, download, ping, rel, hreflang, type, and referrerpolicy attributes must be omitted if the href attribute is not present.

If the itemprop attribute is specified on an a element, then the href attribute must also be specified.

If a site uses a consistent navigation toolbar on every page, then the link that would normally link to the page itself could be marked up using an a element:

<nav>
 <ul>
  <li> <a href="/">Home</a> </li>
  <li> <a href="/news">News</a> </li>
  <li> <a>Examples</a> </li>
  <li> <a href="/legal">Legal</a> </li>
 </ul>
</nav>

The href, target, download, ping, and referrerpolicy attributes affect what happens when users follow hyperlinks or download hyperlinks created using the a element. The rel, hreflang, and type attributes may be used to indicate to the user the likely nature of the target resource before the user follows the link.

a.text: Same as textContent.

HTMLAnchorElement/referrerPolicy

Support in all current engines.

Firefox50+Safari14+Chrome52+

Opera?Edge79+

Edge (Legacy)?Internet ExplorerNo

Firefox Android?Safari iOS?Chrome Android?WebView Android?Samsung Internet?Opera Android?

The IDL attribute referrerPolicy must reflect the referrerpolicy content attribute, limited to only known values.

The text attribute's getter must return this element's descendant text content.

The text attribute's setter must string replace all with the given value within this element.

The a element can be wrapped around entire paragraphs, lists, tables, and so forth, even entire sections, so long as there is no interactive content within (e.g., buttons or other links). This example shows how this can be used to make an entire advertising block into a link:

<aside class="advertising">
 <h1>Advertising</h1>
 <a href="https://ad.example.com/?adid=1929&amp;pubid=1422">
  <section>
   <h1>Mellblomatic 9000!</h1>
   <p>Turn all your widgets into mellbloms!</p>
   <p>Only $9.99 plus shipping and handling.</p>
  </section>
 </a>
 <a href="https://ad.example.com/?adid=375&amp;pubid=1422">
  <section>
   <h1>The Mellblom Browser</h1>
   <p>Web browsing at the speed of light.</p>
   <p>No other browser goes faster!</p>
  </section>
 </a>
</aside>

The following example shows how a bit of script can be used to effectively make an entire row in a job listing table a hyperlink:

<table>
 <tr

🔒 EXCLUSIVE: TR/html/textlevel semantics.html - High Quality

4.5 Text-level semantics

4.5.1 The a element

4.5.1 The `a` element