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HTML Guide

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Find out what web pages on your sites are affected by HTML issues.

Element “dl” is missing a required child element.

The <dl> element, used to create a definition lists that matches some terms with their definitions, is missing a required child element.

The following list will cause this issue, as it’s missing a <dt> to specify the term the given definition refers to:

<dl>
  <dd>A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.</dd>
</dl>

Fixing the above example is as easy as including the missing <dt> with the term:

<dl>
  <dt>Egg</dt>
  <dd>A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.</dd>
</dl>

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Related W3C validator issues