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HTML: b tag

HTML: <b> tag

In this series of learning HTML, we will teach you how to use HTML b tag with proper syntax and lots of examples. Let’s start on the HTML b tag.

Description of HTML b tag

The HTML “b” tag is used to apply bold formatting to the text within the tag. It is a presentational tag that is used to change the visual appearance of the text.

Here is an example of how to use the “b” tag in HTML:

<p>This is <b>bold</b> text.</p>

In the example above, the word “bold” will be displayed in a bold font within the paragraph.

It’s important to note that the “b” tag is a presentational tag and should be used for its intended purpose of changing the visual appearance of text, rather than for semantic markup. For semantic markup, it is better to use the “strong” tag, which indicates that the text within the tag is important and should be emphasized, rather than simply bolded.

<p>This text is <strong>important</strong>.</p>

In the example above, the word “important” will be emphasized in the paragraph, which could be useful for search engine optimization and accessibility purposes.

 

 

Syntax of HTML b tag

The HTML <b> tag is used to apply bold formatting to the text content it surrounds. The syntax of the <b> tag is as follows:

<b>text</b>

Here, the opening tag <b> is used to indicate the start of the bold formatting, and the closing tag </b> is used to indicate the end of the bold formatting. The text content that is to be made bold is placed between the opening and closing tags.

Example:

<p>This is a <b>bold</b> text example.</p>

In this example, the word “bold” will be displayed in bold font weight because it is wrapped within the <b> tag. The rest of the text will be displayed in the default font-weight.

Global Attributes

The HTML b tag is used to define the text that should be displayed in bold font. Here are some examples of global attributes that can be used with the b tag:

  1. class: This attribute can be used to specify one or more class names for the element, separated by spaces. This can be useful for applying CSS styles to the b tag or for JavaScript and jQuery operations.

Example:

<b class="important">This text is important.</b>

 

  1. id: This attribute can be used to specify a unique identifier for the element. This can be useful for JavaScript and CSS purposes.

Example:

<b id="important-text">This text is important.</b>

 

  1. style: This attribute can be used to specify inline styles for the element. This can be useful for applying specific styling to the b tag.

Example:

<b style="color: red; font-size: 24px;">This text is important.</b>

 

  1. title: This attribute can be used to provide additional information about the element, which can be displayed as a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the element.

Example:

<b title="This text is important.">Important text</b>

These are just a few examples of the global attributes that can be used with the b tag. Global attributes can be used with almost any HTML element to provide additional information or functionality.

 

 

Event Attributes

The HTML b tag is used to define text that should be displayed in bold font. The b tag does not have any specific event attributes associated with it. However, event attributes can be used on any HTML element, including the b tag, to trigger JavaScript functions or scripts in response to user actions or other events.

Here are some examples of event attributes that can be used with the b tag:

 

  1. onclick: This attribute can be used to specify a JavaScript function to be executed when the user clicks on the b tag.

Example:

<b onclick="myFunction()">Click me</b>
<script>
function myFunction() {
alert("You clicked on the text.");
}
</script>

 

  1. onmouseover: This attribute can be used to specify a JavaScript function to be executed when the user moves the mouse over the b tag.

Example:

<b onmouseover="myFunction()">Hover over me</b>
<script>
function myFunction() {
alert("You are hovering over the text.");
}
</script>

 

  1. onmouseout: This attribute can be used to specify a JavaScript function to be executed when the user moves the mouse off of the b tag.

Example:

<b onmouseout="myFunction()">Mouse out of me</b>
<script>
function myFunction() {
alert("You moved the mouse out of the text.");
}
</script>

 

These are just a few examples of event attributes that can be used with the b tag or any HTML element. Event attributes can be used to create interactive web pages that respond to user actions or other events.

 

 

 

Other Attributes

The HTML b tag is used to define text that should be displayed in bold font. In addition to global and event attributes, the b tag can also use specific attributes that are unique to this element. These attributes include:

  1. dir: This attribute is used to specify the direction of the text within the b tag. It can take the values “ltr” (left-to-right) or “rtl” (right-to-left).

Example:

<b dir="rtl">This text should be displayed right-to-left.</b>

 

  1. lang: This attribute is used to specify the language of the text within the b tag. It should be set to an ISO 639 language code.

Example:

<b lang="en">This text is in English.</b>

 

  1. xml:lang: This attribute is similar to the lang attribute, but it is used specifically for XML documents. It should also be set to an ISO 639 language code.

Example:

<b xml:lang="fr">Ce texte est en français.</b>

 

These are some of the attributes that are unique to the b tag. While they may not be as commonly used as global attributes or event attributes, they can be useful for adding additional information or functionality to the b tag.

Notes on HTML b tag

Here are some important notes on the HTML b tag:

  1. The b tag is a non-semantic element, which means that it is used purely for presentation purposes and does not provide any additional meaning or context to the content within it.
  2. The use of the b tag is generally discouraged in modern web development, as it does not convey any semantic information about the text that it styles. Instead, it is recommended to use the strong tag or the em tag, which have semantic meanings of “important” and “emphasized” respectively.
  3. The use of inline styles or CSS stylesheets is preferred over the use of the b tag for applying bold styling to text. This allows for greater flexibility and consistency in the styling of text across a website or web application.
  4. While the b tag does not have any specific event attributes associated with it, it can still be used with JavaScript functions or scripts using global event attributes such as onclick, onmouseover, and onmouseout.
  5. When using the b tag, it is important to keep in mind the accessibility needs of users who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers. Providing semantic meaning to text using appropriate HTML tags can help ensure that all users are able to understand and interact with your content.

 

Browser Compatibility

The HTML b tag has essential support with the following browsers:

  1. Chrome
  2. Internet Explorer (IE)
  3. Opera
  4. Safari (WebKit)
  5. Firefox (Gecko)
  6. Android
  7. Firefox Mobile (Gecko)
  8. Edge Mobile
  9. Opera Mobile
  10. Safari Mobile

Examples of HTML b tag

We will discuss the <b> tag below, exploring examples of how to use the <b> tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and XHTML 1.1.

  • HTML5
  • HTML4
  • XHTML

We will discuss the HTML b tag below, with some examples of how to use the b tag in HTML5, HTML 4.01 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, and XHTML 1.1.

  1. HTML5
  2. HTML4
  3. XHTML

HTML5 Document

Here’s an example of using the HTML5 b tag:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Example using HTML5 b tag</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My Website</h1>
<p>This is an example of using the <b>b</b> tag to bold text.</p>
<p><b>Bold text can be useful for emphasizing important information or headings.</b></p>
<p>It is important to remember that the <b>b</b> tag is a non-semantic element, and should be used sparingly to avoid confusing or misleading users.</p>
</body>
</html>

In this example, we have a simple HTML5 document that includes a heading and several paragraphs of text. Within one of the paragraphs, we use the b tag to bold a sentence for emphasis.

Note that we have also included a comment about the non-semantic nature of the b tag and its limited usefulness in providing additional meaning or context to the text.

 

HTML 4.01 Transitional Document

Here’s an example of using the HTML 4.01 Transitional doctype and the b tag:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Example using HTML 4.01 Transitional and the b tag</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My Website</h1>
<p>This is an example of using the <b>b</b> tag to bold text.</p>
<p><b>Bold text can be useful for emphasizing important information or headings.</b></p>
<p>It is important to remember that the <b>b</b> tag is a non-semantic element, and should be used sparingly to avoid confusing or misleading users.</p>
</body>
</html>

In this example, we are using the HTML 4.01 Transitional doctype, which allows for some deprecated elements and attributes like the b tag. The example code is very similar to the HTML5 example, with the only difference being the doctype declaration. The b tag is used to bold some text for emphasis, and a comment is included about the non-semantic nature of the tag.

 

 

XHTML 1.0 Transitional Document

Here’s an example of using the XHTML 1.0 Transitional doctype and the b tag:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Example using XHTML 1.0 Transitional and the b tag</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
<h1>My Website</h1>
<p>This is an example of using the <b>b</b> tag to bold text.</p>
<p><b>Bold text can be useful for emphasizing important information or headings.</b></p>
<p>It is important to remember that the <b>b</b> tag is a non-semantic element, and should be used sparingly to avoid confusing or misleading users.</p>
</body>
</html>

In this example, we are using the XHTML 1.0 Transitional doctype, which allows for some deprecated elements and attributes like the b tag. The example code is similar to the HTML4.01 example, with some differences due to the stricter syntax requirements of XHTML. The b tag is used to bold some text for emphasis, and a comment is included about the non-semantic nature of the tag.

Note that we have also included a meta tag to specify the character encoding of the document as UTF-8, which is required in XHTML. Additionally, we have included a namespace declaration in the html tag, which is also required in XHTML.

 

XHTML 1.0 Strict Document

Here’s an example of using the XHTML 1.0 Strict doctype and the b tag:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Example using XHTML 1.0 Strict and the b tag</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
<h1>My Website</h1>
<p>This is an example of using the <b>b</b> tag to bold text.</p>
<p><b>Bold text can be useful for emphasizing important information or headings.</b></p>
<p>It is important to remember that the <b>b</b> tag is a non-semantic element, and should be used sparingly to avoid confusing or misleading users.</p>
</body>
</html>

In this example, we are using the XHTML 1.0 Strict doctype, which is the most restrictive and does not allow deprecated elements and attributes like the b tag. However, we can still use the b tag if we declare it as a non-standard element using the following XML namespace declaration:

xmlns:non-standard="http://www.example.com/non-standard"

 

We can then use the non-standard:b tag instead of the regular b tag in our HTML document, like this:

<non-standard:b>Bold text</non-standard:b>

However, since the non-standard:b tag is not part of the XHTML 1.0 Strict specification, it will not be recognized by some older browsers and may cause validation errors. As such, it is recommended to avoid using non-standard elements in favor of standard, semantic elements wherever possible.

In the example above, we have still used the regular b tag for simplicity, but note that it is not strictly valid according to the XHTML 1.0 Strict specification. We have also included a meta tag to specify the character encoding of the document as UTF-8, which is required in XHTML.

 

XHTML 1.1 Document

Here’s an example of using the XHTML 1.1 doctype and the b tag:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Example using XHTML 1.1 and the b tag</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
<h1>My Website</h1>
<p>This is an example of using the <b>b</b> tag to bold text.</p>
<p><b>Bold text can be useful for emphasizing important information or headings.</b></p>
<p>It is important to remember that the <b>b</b> tag is a non-semantic element, and should be used sparingly to avoid confusing or misleading users.</p>
</body>
</html>

In this example, we are using the XHTML 1.1 doctype, which is similar to the XHTML 1.0 Strict doctype in that it does not allow deprecated elements and attributes like the b tag. However, unlike XHTML 1.0 Strict, XHTML 1.1 does not provide a mechanism for using non-standard elements. Therefore, we cannot use the b tag directly in our XHTML 1.1 document.

Instead, we can use CSS to achieve the same effect as the b tag. We can define a CSS style rule for the strong element to make it bold, like this:

strong {
font-weight: bold;
}

Then, we can use the strong element in our XHTML document to indicate strong emphasis, like this:

<p>This is an example of using <strong>strong emphasis</strong> in XHTML 1.1.</p>

Note that we have also included a meta tag to specify the content type of the document as application/xhtml+xml, which is required for XHTML documents. Additionally, we have used the strong element instead of the b element to indicate strong emphasis, since the b element is non-semantic and not recommended for use in XHTML.