HTML Guide
The only permitted value for the xmlns:link attribute is http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink.
Although using https in the URL looks like it’s going to be more secure, in fact this URL is not used to connect it to, only to declare the namespace.
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Last reviewed: October 27, 2022
Related W3C validator issues
The xmlns:m attribute is an XML namespace declaration and not valid on the html element in HTML documents.
HTML5 does not support custom XML namespaces; they are only used in XML-based languages such as XHTML. The global xmlns:* attributes like xmlns:m are not allowed on the <html> element in HTML documents that use the text/html MIME type. This causes serialization and validation errors, especially with W3C HTML validation.
To fix this, remove the xmlns:m attribute from the <html> tag. If you need to use a namespace, your document should be XHTML and served as application/xhtml+xml, not as regular HTML.
Incorrect HTML (causes validation error):
<html xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml">
<head>
<title>Invalid Namespace Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content -->
</body>
</html>Correct HTML (remove the namespace declaration):
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Valid HTML Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content -->
</body>
</html>If you require usage of MathML, SVG, or other XML vocabularies, HTML5 already supports them natively without explicit namespace declarations. For Microsoft Office Markup Language (OMML), use proper XML/XHTML serialization and the correct MIME type if absolutely necessary. For typical web content, avoid custom XML namespaces in HTML5.
Remove the xmlns:svg attribute from the <svg> element, leaving only the valid xmlns attribute.
The xmlns attribute defines the XML namespace for the SVG and is correctly set to http://www.w3.org/2000/svg. The xmlns:svg attribute attempts to declare a prefixed namespace, which is unnecessary and invalid in both HTML and SVG served as XML (or embedded in HTML). The W3C validator flags this because HTML5 does not allow arbitrary XML namespace declarations beyond the standard SVG namespace; such prefixes are not used in HTML serialization.
Incorrect usage:
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<!-- SVG content -->
</svg>Correct usage:
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<!-- SVG content -->
</svg>Only xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" is required for inline SVG in HTML.
The xmlns:v attribute is not valid in HTML5 and should be removed to ensure compliance with W3C standards.
The xmlns:v namespace attribute was historically used for VML (Vector Markup Language), mainly in legacy support for Internet Explorer. Modern HTML, particularly the living standard and HTML5, does not permit namespace declarations using xmlns attributes like xmlns:v. These are only valid in XML-based serializations, such as XHTML. Including xmlns:v in a standard HTML5 document results in validation errors because HTML does not support custom namespaces.
Incorrect HTML:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" lang="en">
<head>
<title>VML Namespace Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content -->
</body>
</html>Corrected HTML:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>VML Namespace Removed</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content -->
</body>
</html>Remove the xmlns:v attribute entirely to resolve the validator warning and ensure your HTML meets current standards. If you are not using VML, no further changes are necessary. If you require vector graphics, use SVG instead, which is fully supported in HTML5.
Ensure the xmlns attribute for <svg> elements is set to “http://www.w3.org/2000/svg”.
In HTML documents, the xmlns attribute in an <svg> element must be defined correctly. The xmlns attribute specifies the XML namespace for an SVG element, which should always be “http://www.w3.org/2000/svg”. If you receive a validation error indicating a bad value for xmlns, it means that the attribute is empty or incorrectly set. This namespace ensures that the SVG elements are properly recognized as SVGs by the browser and aids in maintaining proper structure and function.
Here’s a correct example of an <svg> element:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<body>
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="100" height="100">
<circle cx="50" cy="50" r="40" stroke="black" stroke-width="3" fill="red" />
</svg>
</body>
</html>Ensure that every <svg> element you use includes the xmlns attribute with the correct value to avoid validation issues and ensure complete browser compatibility.
The only permitted value for the xmlns attribute is http://www.w3.org/2000/svg.
The namespace declaration for an <svg> element is provided by the xmlns attribute like this:
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<!-- more tags here -->
</svg>Although using https in the URL looks like it’s going to be more secure, in fact this URL is not used to connect it to, only to declare the namespace.
Using the xmlns:dt attribute in the <html> tag is invalid in HTML5 and triggers validation errors because custom XML namespaces are not supported in HTML.
HTML5 does not support arbitrary XML namespaces, as used in XHTML or other XML-based vocabularies. The attribute xmlns:dt is specific to XML serialization and not serializable as per XML 1.0 rules when used in HTML5 documents, which no longer use the XML namespace mechanism. The only allowed use of xmlns in HTML is for SVG and MathML in embedded contexts, under specific interoperability rules.
To resolve this, remove the xmlns:dt attribute entirely from your document and use a standard HTML <html> declaration.
Incorrect (causes validation error):
<html xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882">
</html>Correct (W3C-compliant HTML5):
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>No XMLNS Namespace</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Your content here -->
</body>
</html>Remove XML-specific attributes from HTML documents to ensure compatibility and compliance with modern HTML standards.
The attribute xmlns:serif is not valid. Check this guide for more information on this issue.
Using the attribute xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" in HTML is invalid because custom XML namespace declarations are not allowed in HTML5.
HTML5 does not support custom namespaces like xmlns:w, which are used in XML-based formats such as XHTML or Office documents, but not in regular HTML. The HTML parser ignores unknown attributes and does not treat them as namespaces, which can result in validation errors. Only predefined namespaces allowed by the HTML specification (such as the default for SVG or MathML) are supported via the appropriate embedding elements.
Correct HTML Example Without Custom Namespace:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>No Custom Namespace Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Custom XML namespaces like <code>xmlns:w</code> are not valid in HTML5.</p>
</body>
</html>Incorrect Example That Causes the Error:
<html xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word">
<!-- ... -->
</html>To fix the error, remove the xmlns:w attribute from your HTML. If you need to use Office-specific features or XML namespaces, use an appropriate XML-based format (such as XHTML or OOXML), but not standard HTML5.
The xmlns:m attribute is not permitted on the html element in HTML5 documents.
HTML5 allows only certain attributes on the html element, specifically lang and dir (and the standard xmlns in XHTML serialization contexts), but not custom XML namespaces like xmlns:m. The xmlns:m attribute is typically used in XML-based documents (such as MathML or Office markup) and is not valid in standard HTML5 syntax.
To resolve the error, remove the xmlns:m attribute from the html element. If you need to use namespace-prefixed elements or attributes (such as for Office documents or MathML), you should use XHTML serialization (served as application/xhtml+xml) or rework your markup to be fully compatible with HTML5 without custom namespaces.
Incorrect usage:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml">
<head>
<title>Invalid Namespace Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content here -->
</body>
</html>Correct HTML5 usage:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Valid HTML Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content here -->
</body>
</html>If you require namespaces for specific elements (like MathML), use them directly without declaring a namespace on the html element, or switch to XHTML if your application truly requires namespace declarations. For most web applications, sticking to standard HTML5 elements and attributes ensures maximal compatibility and validator compliance.
The “xmlns:o” attribute is not allowed because it is not part of the standard HTML attributes and typically appears due to improperly embedded XML or Office-related HTML content.
In HTML documents, the “xmlns” attribute is used to declare a namespace and is generally valid for certain elements when dealing with XML documents or XHTML. However, the “xmlns:o” attribute specifically relates to XML namespaces typically used in Microsoft’s Office XML formats (for example, when copying and pasting styled content from Word to an HTML editor). Since HTML5 doesn’t natively support these namespaces as valid HTML attributes and strictly validates against them, any non-standard attributes like “xmlns:o” generate validation errors.
To fix this issue, you should remove the “xmlns:o” attribute unless you are sure that it’s necessary for the function of your document, and the document should be processed in a way that supports such namespaces. If the content is not meant to include Office-specific data elements, it’s likely this attribute was accidentally included and can be safely removed.
Example of Incorrect HTML with “xmlns:o”
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample Document</title>
</head>
<body xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
<p>This is a paragraph within a body tag falsely including an xmlns:o attribute.</p>
</body>
</html>Corrected Example without “xmlns:o”
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This is a paragraph within a correctly structured HTML document.</p>
</body>
</html>By removing the “xmlns:o” attribute, the HTML document complies with the W3C standards, leading to successful validation. If you require namespaces for XML processing, it’s essential to handle them outside the context of standard HTML or within an XML or XHTML document structure where such namespaces are appropriate and valid.