HTML Guide
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.
Learn more:
Related W3C validator issues
The maxlength attribute can be used on an input element to define a client-side validation for the maximum length allowed on an input without resorting to JavaScript.
This attribute is only allowed on elements of type email, password, search, tel, text, or url.
The minlength attribute can be used on an input element to define a client-side validation for the maximum length allowed on an input without resorting to JavaScript.
This attribute is only allowed on elements of type email, password, search, tel, text, or url.
The minlength attribute defines the minimum number of characters (as UTF-16 code units) the user can enter into an <input> or <textarea>. This must be an integer value 0 or higher. If no minlength is specified, or an invalid value is specified, the input has no minimum length. This value must be less than or equal to the value of maxlength, otherwise the value will never be valid, as it is impossible to meet both criteria.
Here’s an example:
<label for="name">Enter your name (max 25 characters)</label>
<input type="text" minlength="25" id="name">The pattern attribute is only allowed on input whose type is email, password, search, tel, text or url. Check the type used, and consider changing to one of the allowed types to enable pattern client-side validation.
The pattern attribute is a handy way of adding client-side validation on HTML forms without resorting to JavaScript. Check out this article to learn more about Input Pattern.
The boolean required attribute can only be used with certain types of inputs. Check the input type is one of the allowed.
The required attribute, if present, indicates that the user must specify a value for the input before the owning form can be submitted.
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>The name attribute is required for all input elements.
Empty type attributes are invalid on the <a> element; you must either remove the type attribute or provide a valid MIME type value.
The type attribute on an <a> (anchor) element specifies the MIME type of the linked resource. According to the WHATWG HTML specification and W3C validator, the value of the type attribute cannot be an empty string. It should be a valid MIME type, such as application/pdf or text/html. If you do not know the MIME type or it’s not relevant, you should omit the attribute.
Incorrect HTML example (causes validation error):
<a href="document.pdf" type="">Download PDF</a>Correct HTML example (remove the invalid attribute):
<a href="document.pdf">Download PDF</a>Correct HTML example (provide a valid MIME type):
<a href="document.pdf" type="application/pdf">Download PDF</a>If the type is unknown or unnecessary, leaving it out is preferred to using an empty value.
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.
The value tel-national cannot be used on the attribute autocomplete of an <input> element of type tel. Either change to type="text", or use autocomplete="tel". Examples:
<!-- Using autocomplete "tel-national" on type "tel" is invalid -->
<input name="phone1" type="tel" autocomplete="tel-national" />
<!--Using autocomplete "tel-national" on type "text" is valid -->
<input name="phone2" type="text" autocomplete="tel-national" />
<!--Using autocomplete "tel" on type "tel" is valid -->
<input name="phone3" type="tel" autocomplete="tel" />Invalid value used for the multiple attribute on an input element.
The multiple attribute is a boolean attribute for certain input types (e.g., email, file). Boolean attributes must appear without a value (or with the same name as value in legacy cases), and they only work on specific types. Valid usage: <input type="email" multiple> or <input type="file" multiple>. Invalid usage includes multiple="1", multiple="true", or using multiple on unsupported types like text or number. The email type allows comma-separated addresses when multiple is present; the file type allows selecting more than one file.
HTML Examples
Example that reproduces the error
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Invalid multiple</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Invalid: value on boolean attribute, and wrong type -->
<input type="text" name="tags" multiple="1">
</body>
</html>Corrected example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Valid multiple</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Valid: boolean attribute without a value on supported types -->
<input type="email" name="recipients" multiple placeholder="name@example.com, other@example.com">
<input type="file" name="attachments" multiple>
</body>
</html>