HTML Guide
The value for the height property in your CSS must be a valid CSS length or percentage, or the keyword auto.
height in CSS accepts values such as px, em, rem, %, or the keyword auto. Incompatible values, like an unrecognized string or a missing unit (e.g., just height: 100;), will trigger this validation error. Always specify a valid unit unless using 0, which doesn’t require a unit, or use a percentage if the parent element has a defined height.
Correct usage examples:
<style>
.box {
height: 200px;
}
.container {
height: 70%;
}
.image {
height: auto;
}
.zero {
height: 0;
}
</style>Incorrect usage examples:
<style>
.bad {
height: 100; /* missing unit */
}
.bad2 {
height: big; /* invalid keyword */
}
</style>
Always include a valid unit like px, %, em, or use auto for the height property.
Learn more:
Related W3C validator issues
The <table> element does not accept a height attribute. Use CSS instead.
The W3C HTML Validator issue you encountered indicates that the value of the height attribute for an <img> element is set to “100%”, which is not allowed in HTML. The height attribute must be a specific digit that represents the height in pixels (e.g., “150”), rather than a percentage or any other unit.
How to Fix the Issue
To resolve this issue, you need to specify a numeric value for the height attribute instead. If you want the image to occupy a certain percentage of the container, use CSS instead of the height attribute.
Example of Incorrect HTML
Here is an example that causes the validation issue:
<img src="image.jpg" height="100%" alt="Example Image">Corrected HTML Using Pixel Values
To correct the issue, replace the percentage with a pixel value:
<img src="image.jpg" height="200" alt="Example Image">Alternative: Using CSS for Responsive Design
If you want the image to scale responsively and occupy 100% of the width of its container, consider using CSS:
<style>
.responsive-img {
width: 100%;
height: auto; /* Maintains aspect ratio */
}
</style>
<img src="image.jpg" class="responsive-img" alt="Example Image">Summary
- Do not use percentage values for the height attribute of <img> tags.
- Use pixel values for fixed dimensions.
- For responsive design, use CSS to set the dimensions instead.
The height attribute on the <video> element must be a non-negative integer representing the height in CSS pixels. The value “auto” is not a valid value for this attribute. To resolve the issue, set the height attribute to a specific numeric value or adjust the height using CSS instead.
Example with a numeric height value:
<video width="640" height="360" controls>
<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>Alternatively, control the height using CSS:
<video width="640" controls style="height: auto;">
<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>In the CSS approach, “auto” can be used, but it should not be part of the HTML attributes.
The width and height attributes on <img> elements expect a digit to specify the dimension in pixels. It should not contain units, letters or percent signs.
You can achieve this using CSS instead, for example:
<!-- Invalid syntax, the height attribute expects only digits -->
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="cat" height="auto" />
<!-- Valid syntax using CSS -->
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="cat" style="height: auto" />The attributes width and height of <iframe> elements expect a non-negative integer, so an empty string is not allowed. Either define the correct dimension, or remove this attribute.
The attributes width and height of <img> elements expect a non-negative integer, so an empty string is not allowed. Either define the correct dimension, or remove this attribute.
The value used in the height attribute on element iframe is not a valid integer. Remove any leading or trailing spaces from the attribute value.
Here’s an example:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="your-video-link" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><video> elements accept a height attribute to specify the width in CSS pixels. This value can only be an integer, it should not contain units or %. If you need to specify a percentage width, you can do that with CSS.
Here’s an example of setting width and height on a video element.
<video controls width="640" height="480">
<source src="/media/cc0-videos/flower.webm" type="video/webm">
</video>The attributes width and height on an iframe expect a valid positive integer without any decimals.
Here’s an example of incorrect code where decimals are being used for dimension attributes:
<iframe src="example.html" height="602.88" width="800.2"></iframe>Corrected code without decimals:
<iframe src="example.html" height="603" width="800"></iframe>In the corrected code, the width and height values has been changed to a whole number, which conforms to the standard integer value expected by the W3C validator.
The attributes width and height on an iframe expect a valid positive integer without any decimals.
Here’s an example of incorrect code where decimals are being used for dimension attributes:
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="Dog" height="602.88" width="800.2">Corrected code without decimals:
<img src="photo.jpg" alt="Dog" height="603" width="800">In the corrected code, the width and height values has been changed to a whole number, which conforms to the standard integer value expected by the W3C validator.