HTML Glossary
Quick definitions of HTML terms and concepts used throughout the course.
A
- Anchor Tag
- The <a> tag used to create hyperlinks to other pages or resources.
- Attribute
- Additional properties of HTML tags that provide extra information about elements (e.g., href, class, id).
- Accessibility
- The practice of making websites usable for everyone, including people with disabilities.
- ARIA
- Accessible Rich Internet Applications - a specification for adding accessibility information to HTML.
B
- Block Element
- HTML elements that take up the full width available and appear on a new line (e.g., div, p, h1).
- Breadcrumb
- Navigation aid showing the user's location within a website hierarchy.
- Bootstrap
- Popular CSS framework that provides pre-styled components and responsive grid system.
C
- CSS
- Cascading Style Sheets - language used to style and layout HTML elements.
- Canvas
- HTML5 element that allows drawing graphics and animations using JavaScript.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Network of servers that deliver web content to users based on their location.
D
- DOCTYPE
- Declaration at the beginning of HTML document specifying HTML version (usually <!DOCTYPE html>).
- DOM
- Document Object Model - hierarchical representation of HTML document elements.
- Data Attribute
- Custom attributes starting with "data-" for storing custom information on HTML elements.
E
- Element
- Individual HTML component consisting of opening tag, content, and closing tag.
- Embed
- HTML tag for including external media or applications in a web page.
- Entity
- Special character representation in HTML (e.g., & for &, < for <).
F
- Form
- HTML element for collecting user input through various control elements.
- Favicon
- Small icon displayed in browser tabs and bookmarks.
- Footer
- Semantic HTML element containing page bottom content like copyright and links.
G
- Grid Layout
- CSS display property creating two-dimensional grid-based layouts.
- Graceful Degradation
- Designing websites to work in older browsers with reduced functionality.
H
- Heading
- HTML tags (h1-h6) for marking hierarchical structure of page content.
- Header
- Semantic HTML element for page or section introductory content.
- Href
- Hypertext reference attribute specifying link destination URL.
I
- Iframe
- Inline frame for embedding another HTML page within a page.
- Input
- Form element allowing user to enter various types of data.
- Inline Element
- Elements that flow within text and only take necessary width (e.g., span, a, strong).
J
- JavaScript
- Programming language for adding interactivity and dynamic behavior to web pages.
- JSON
- JavaScript Object Notation - lightweight data format commonly used in web APIs.
K
- Keyboard Navigation
- Ability to navigate and interact with website using only keyboard keys.
L
- Label
- HTML element associating text with form input for better usability and accessibility.
- Lazy Loading
- Technique for deferring loading of resources until they're needed.
- Link
- HTML element for linking external resources like CSS stylesheets.
M
- Meta Tag
- HTML tag providing metadata about the document (charset, viewport, description).
- Mobile-First
- Design approach starting with mobile layout and progressively enhancing for larger screens.
- Metadata
- Information about the HTML document that isn't displayed to users.
N
- Navigation
- Semantic HTML element for main navigation links of a website.
- Nesting
- Placing HTML elements inside other elements to create structure.
O
- Open Graph
- Meta tags for controlling how content appears when shared on social media.
- Optimization
- Process of improving website performance, loading time, and user experience.
P
- Paragraph
- HTML <p> tag for marking blocks of text content.
- Progressive Enhancement
- Building websites that work for everyone with basic HTML, then enhancing functionality.
- Pseudo-class
- CSS selector targeting special state of an element (e.g., :hover, :focus).
R
- Responsive Design
- Design approach making websites adapt to different screen sizes and devices.
- Rich Media
- Content types like video, audio, and interactive elements beyond plain text.
S
- Semantic HTML
- Using HTML tags that describe content meaning, not just appearance (e.g., header, article, nav).
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization - techniques for improving website visibility in search results.
- Script
- HTML tag for embedding or linking JavaScript code.
- SVG
- Scalable Vector Graphics - format for displaying vector graphics in web pages.
T
- Table
- HTML element for displaying data in rows and columns.
- Tag
- HTML markup element consisting of tag name surrounded by angle brackets.
- Template
- Reusable HTML structure for creating consistent pages or components.
U
- Unordered List
- HTML <ul> element for displaying items with bullet points.
- User Experience (UX)
- Overall experience users have when interacting with a website.
V
- Validation
- Process of checking HTML code for errors and compliance with standards.
- Viewport
- Meta tag specifying how browser should render page on different devices.
- Video Tag
- HTML5 element for embedding video content in web pages.
W
- WCAG
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - standards for accessible web design.
- Web Components
- Reusable custom HTML elements and shadow DOM for building components.
- Web Standards
- Official specifications for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript maintained by W3C and WHATWG.
X
- XML
- Extensible Markup Language - similar to HTML but for data storage and transport.
- XSS
- Cross-Site Scripting - security vulnerability from injecting malicious scripts.
Z
- Z-index
- CSS property controlling stacking order of positioned elements.