HTML Guide

Bad value “datetime” for attribute “type” on element “input”.

type="datetime" is obsolete; it was removed from HTML and is not valid in modern browsers or validators.

Explanation

The input element’s type attribute accepts specific keywords defined by the HTML Living Standard. The keyword datetime was dropped; use either:

type="datetime-local" for a local date and time without timezone.
type="date" or type="time" when collecting them separately.
type="text" with a pattern or a JS widget when timezone-aware datetime is required.

Relevant attributes that still apply include name, value, min, max, and step (e.g., seconds for datetime-local).

HTML examples

Example reproducing the error

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Invalid input type</title>
</head>
<body>
  <form>
    <label>
      Meeting:
      <input type="datetime" name="meeting">
    </label>
  </form>
</body>
</html>

Valid fix with datetime-local

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Valid input type</title>
</head>
<body>
  <form>
    <label>
      Meeting:
      <input type="datetime-local" name="meeting" step="60">
    </label>
  </form>
</body>
</html>

Learn more:

Related W3C validator issues

Bad value “dob” for attribute “type” on element “input”.

The type dob is not valid for an input. If you want to build a date picker field, you can use the native HTML input elements with type date, datetime-local, or a generic text input decorated with JavaScript and CSS.

In HTML, the type attribute for the <input> element specifies the type of input control that is to be displayed. The type attribute can have values like text, password, email, date, etc. Using an unsupported or invalid value like dob (which presumably stands for “date of birth”) will cause this validation error.

Here’s an example of how you can correct this issue by using a supported type attribute value for the date of birth input:

<label for="dob">Date of Birth:</label>
<input type="date" id="dob" name="dob">

In this corrected example, we’ve used the type="date" attribute value for the date of birth input. This is a valid type for handling dates in HTML forms. Replace the input type with a supported type according to the specific data you need to capture.

Alternatively you can use a JavaScript library to build a date picker on a generic text input. For example, the popular bootstrap-datepicker library will generate a date picker around a text input.

Bad value “numeric” for attribute “type” on element “input”.

The input element does not support a type attribute value of numeric; the correct attribute value is number.

HTML input elements have a type attribute that specifies the kind of data that the input is expected to contain. When creating a form field for numeric input, you should use type="number", which provides an input control with features like increment/decrement controls, depending on the browser. This allows browsers to render the appropriate interface for numeric inputs and also provides built-in client-side validation to ensure that the entered data is a numerical value.

Here’s an example of how to correctly define an input for numeric values:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Number Input Example</title>
</head>
<body>
  <form>
    <label for="quantity">Quantity:</label>
    <input type="number" id="quantity" name="quantity" min="1" max="10">
    <input type="submit" value="Submit">
  </form>
</body>
</html>

In this example, the input element has a type of number, allowing users to input or select a numeric value within the specified range of 1 to 10. Using type="number" instead of any incorrect value, like numeric, ensures that your HTML is compliant with W3C standards.

Bad value “zip” for attribute “type” on element “input”.

A “script” element with a “defer” attribute must not have a “type” attribute with the value “module”.

The combination of type="module" and defer is not allowed. The type="module" attribute itself implies that the script should be executed in a deferred way, hence using the defer attribute is unnecessary and invalid.

Steps to Fix the Issue:

Remove the defer Attribute: When you use type="module", you should not include the defer attribute since module scripts defer automatically.

Incorrect Code:

<script type="module" defer src="example.js"></script>

Corrected Code:

<script type="module" src="example.js"></script>

A “script” element with a “src” attribute must not have a “type” attribute whose value is anything other than the empty string, a JavaScript MIME type, or “module”.

The <script> tag allows authors to include dynamic scripts and data blocks in their documents. When the src is present, this tag accepts a type attribute which must be either:

an empty string
text/javascript (that’s the default, so it can be omitted)
module

Examples:

<!-- This is valid, without a type it defaults to JavaScript -->

<script src="app.js"></script>

<!-- This is valid, but will warn that it can be omitted -->

<script type="text/javascript" src="app.js"></script>

<!-- An empty attribute is valid, but will warn that it can be omitted -->

<script type="" src="app.js"></script>

<!-- The module keyword is also valid as a type -->

<script type="module" src="app.js"></script>

<!-- Any other type is invalid -->

<script type="wrong" src="app.js"></script>
<script type="text/html" src="app.js"></script>
<script type="image/jpeg" src="app.js"></script>

A “source” element that has a following sibling “source” element or “img” element with a “srcset” attribute must have a “media” attribute and/or “type” attribute.

A <source> element inside a <picture> that is followed by another <source> or an <img> with srcset must include a media and/or type attribute.

The <source> element is used inside <picture> for responsive images, allowing different resources to be loaded based on conditions such as viewport width (media) or image format (type). According to the HTML standard, when multiple <source> elements are present (or a following <img> with srcset), each <source> must provide a media and/or type attribute so the browser can choose the appropriate resource based on those hints.

Without media or type, the browser cannot distinguish when to use each source, which can lead to validation errors and unexpected rendering behavior.

Incorrect example (causes the validator error):

<picture>
  <source srcset="image1.webp">
  <source srcset="image2.jpg">
  <img alt="" src="fallback.jpg" srcset="fallback2x.jpg 2x">
</picture>

Correct examples (fixing the error):

<picture>
  <source srcset="image1.webp" type="image/webp">
  <source srcset="image2.jpg" type="image/jpeg">
  <img alt="" src="fallback.jpg" srcset="fallback2x.jpg 2x">
</picture>

<picture>
  <source srcset="image-small.jpg" media="(max-width: 600px)">
  <source srcset="image-large.jpg" media="(min-width: 601px)">
  <img alt="" src="fallback.jpg" srcset="fallback2x.jpg 2x">
</picture>

By specifying the media and/or type attributes for each <source>, you satisfy the HTML standard and resolve the W3C validator issue.

An “input” element with a “type” attribute whose value is “hidden” must not have an “autocomplete” attribute whose value is “on” or “off”.

The autocomplete attribute is used to control if the browser can provide assistance in filling out form field values, and it only makes sense for visible, not hidden, inputs.

It is available on <input> elements that take a text or numeric value as input, <textarea> elements, <select> elements, and <form> elements.

To fix this issue, you can remove the autocomplete attribute from the input element with type=hidden. Here is an example:

<!-- Wrong code -->

<input type="hidden" name="phone" value="12345" autcomplete="off">

<!-- Correct code -->

<input type="hidden" name="phone" value="12345">

An “input” element with a “type” attribute whose value is “hidden” must not have any “aria-*” attributes.

The aria-* attributes are part of the WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative-Accessible Rich Internet Applications) suite. They are used to improve the accessibility of web pages. However, when we use an input element with a type attribute whose value is hidden, we imply that the element is invisible and has no interaction with the user. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to add aria-* attributes to it.

To fix this issue, you need to remove the aria-* attributes from the input element with type=hidden. Here is an example:

<!-- Wrong code -->

<input type="hidden" name="referer" value="https://example.com" aria-invalid="false">

<!-- Correct code -->

<input type="hidden" name="referer" value="https://example.com">

Any “input” descendant of a “label” element with a “for” attribute must have an ID value that matches that “for” attribute.

When nesting an input element inside a label that has a for attribute, the id attribute of the input is required to match it.

The label element represents a caption in a user interface. The caption can be associated with a specific form control, known as the label element’s labeled control, either using the for attribute, or by putting the form control inside the label element itself.

When the input is inside the label, there’s no need to specify a for attribute as there can only be one input, as in this example:

<label>
  Age
  <input type="text" name="age">
</label>

However, if the for attribute is specified, then it must match the id of the input like this:

<label for="user_age">
  Age
  <input type="text" name="age" id="user_age">
</label>

Attribute “maxlength” is only allowed when the input type is “email”, “password”, “search”, “tel”, “text”, or “url”.