HTML Guide
Padding properties, unline margin properties, don’t accept negative values.
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Last reviewed: May 25, 2023
Related W3C validator issues
The padding CSS shorthand property sets the padding area on all four sides of an element at once.
To specify no padding, use padding: 0 instead of padding: none.
The padding property in CSS requires a numerical value followed by a unit. For example, pixels (px), percentages (%), em units (em), etc. Setting padding: px without a number is invalid.
To fix the issue, specify a numerical value before the unit. Here’s how you can correct this:
Example of incorrect HTML with inline CSS:
<div style="padding: px;">Content</div>Corrected HTML with inline CSS:
<div style="padding: 10px;">Content</div>In the above example, 10px is a valid value.
Alternatively, if using an external CSS file, the incorrect CSS might look like this:
.example {
padding: px;
}Correct the external CSS by specifying a numerical value:
.example {
padding: 10px;
}The <table> element does not accept a height attribute. Use CSS instead.
To query for the size of the viewport (or the page box on page media), the width, height and aspect-ratio media features should be used, rather than device-width, device-height and device-aspect-ratio, which refer to the physical size of the device regardless of how much space is available for the document being laid out. The device-* media features are also sometimes used as a proxy to detect mobile devices. Instead, authors should use media features that better represent the aspect of the device that they are attempting to style against.
The width media feature describes the width of the targeted display area of the output device. For continuous media, this is the width of the viewport including the size of a rendered scroll bar (if any).
In the following example, this media query expresses that the style sheet is only linked if the width of the viewport 768px maximum:
<link rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (max-width: 768px)" href="styles.css">To query for the size of the viewport (or the page box on page media), the width, height and aspect-ratio media features should be used, rather than device-width, device-height and device-aspect-ratio, which refer to the physical size of the device regardless of how much space is available for the document being laid out. The device-* media features are also sometimes used as a proxy to detect mobile devices. Instead, authors should use media features that better represent the aspect of the device that they are attempting to style against.
The width media feature describes the width of the targeted display area of the output device. For continuous media, this is the width of the viewport including the size of a rendered scroll bar (if any).
In the following example, this media query expresses that the style sheet is only linked if the width of the viewport is greater than 768px:
<link rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-width: 768px)" href="styles.css">The sizes attribute for an img element requires valid CSS syntax, and auto is not an acceptable value within that attribute.
The sizes attribute allows you to specify a list of media conditions and corresponding sizes for the images. Each condition determines which size of the image should be displayed at different viewport widths, ensuring responsive image delivery. The syntax for sizes should be a comma-separated list of media queries followed by a value denoting the corresponding width of the image. This width value may be in pixels (px) or as a percentage (vw, vh), but auto is not valid in this context.
Here is a breakdown of a correct sizes attribute usage:
- 50vw: This denotes that the image should take up 50% of the viewport’s width.
- (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 50vw: When the viewport is at most 600 pixels wide, the image should occupy the full width (100vw). Otherwise, it should take 50 percent of the viewport width.
Remove “auto” from your sizes value and provide a valid, contextually correct CSS value.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Responsive Images Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<img
src="image.jpg"
sizes="(max-width: 472px) 100vw, 472px"
srcset="image-small.jpg 300w, image-medium.jpg 600w, image-large.jpg 1000w"
alt="A description of the image"
>
</body>
</html>In this example, if the viewport width is less than or equal to 472 pixels, the image will take up the entire width (100vw). For larger widths, the srcset specifies different image files for varying resolutions.
The issue you’re encountering indicates that the CSS property align-items is being set to a value of auto, which is not a valid value for this property according to the CSS specification. The align-items property is used in flexbox and grid layouts to define how items are aligned along the cross axis.
Fixing the Issue:
-
Understand Valid Values: The valid values for the align-items property include:
/* Basic keywords */ align-items: normal; align-items: stretch; /* Positional alignment */ /* align-items does not take left and right values */ align-items: center; align-items: start; align-items: end; align-items: flex-start; align-items: flex-end; align-items: self-start; align-items: self-end; align-items: anchor-center; /* Baseline alignment */ align-items: baseline; align-items: first baseline; align-items: last baseline; /* Overflow alignment (for positional alignment only) */ align-items: safe center; align-items: unsafe center; /* Global values */ align-items: inherit; align-items: initial; align-items: revert; align-items: revert-layer; align-items: unset; -
Choose a Correct Value: Based on the desired alignment, choose one of the valid values. For instance:
- Use flex-start to align items to the start of the container.
- Use center to align items in the center.
- Use stretch to stretch items to fill the container.
-
Example Correction: If your original CSS was:
.container { display: flex; align-items: auto; /* This is invalid */ }You could change it to:
.container { display: flex; align-items: center; /* This is valid */ }
Conclusion:
Replace the invalid auto value with a valid option that suits the design you aim for, making sure to test the layout after applying changes to confirm that the items align as intended.
The aspect-ratio CSS property allows you to define the desired width-to-height ratio of an element’s box. This means that even if the parent container or viewport size changes, the browser will adjust the element’s dimensions to maintain the specified width-to-height ratio. The specified aspect ratio is used in the calculation of auto sizes and some other layout functions.
The box’s preferred aspect ratio is the specified ratio of width / height. If height and the preceding slash character are omitted, height defaults to 1.
Here are some examples of this property:
aspect-ratio: 1 / 1;
aspect-ratio: 1;
/* Global values */
aspect-ratio: inherit;
aspect-ratio: initial;
aspect-ratio: revert;
aspect-ratio: revert-layer;
aspect-ratio: unset;This error typically occurs when there is a syntax issue in the CSS code for the background-color property in your HTML or CSS file. The error message indicates that there is an unexpected semicolon (;) after the # symbol, which is commonly used to define hexadecimal color values.
Here is a step-by-step guide to fix this issue:
-
Locate the Error:
- Look for the line and column in your code as specified by the validator. This is where the error is occurring.
-
Identify the Issue:
- Check the background-color property at that location. It’s likely that you have a semicolon directly after the # or an invalid color value.
-
Correct the Syntax:
- Ensure that the background-color property is followed by a valid hexadecimal color value, an RGB/RGBA value, an HSL/HSLA value, or a predefined color keyword.
Example of Error
Let’s say you have the following erroneous CSS code:
body {
background-color: #; /* Incorrect */
}The above code is incorrect because #; is not a valid color value.
Corrected Example
Here’s how to fix it by providing a valid hexadecimal color value:
body {
background-color: #ffffff; /* Correct: Hexadecimal color for white */
}Alternatively, you can also use other color formats or color keywords. Examples:
body {
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); /* RGB color */
}
body {
background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); /* RGBA color */
}
body {
background-color: hsl(0, 0%, 100%); /* HSL color */
}
body {
background-color: hsla(0, 0%, 100%, 1); /* HSLA color */
}
body {
background-color: white; /* Predefined color keyword */
}The background-color property in CSS expects a valid color value. Valid color values include keywords (such as red or blue), hexadecimal values (such as #FFFFFF), RGB values (such as rgb(255, 255, 255)), and others.
Example Fix
Invalid CSS
The following snippet is invalid because 0 is not a valid color value:
<style>
.example {
background-color: 0;
}
</style>Valid CSS
To fix it, use a valid color value. Below are examples using different types of color values:
Color Keyword
<style>
.example {
background-color: black;
}
</style>Hexadecimal Color
<style>
.example {
background-color: #000000;
}
</style>RGB Color
<style>
.example {
background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
}
</style>RGBA Color
<style>
.example {
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
}
</style>