HTML Validation

Saw “<” when expecting an attribute name. Probable cause: Missing “>” immediately before.

About This HTML Issue

A < character has been found when an attribute was expected instead. Check the syntax of the affected tag, it’s probably malformed and a < character inside has been interpreted as an attribute.

For example, this code might cause this issue:

<!-- Malformed img tag -->

<img src="photo.jpg" alt="smiling cat" < />

<!-- Fixed img tag -->

<img src="photo.jpg" alt="smiling cat" />

Last reviewed: October 27, 2022

Was this guide helpful?

Find issues like this automatically

Rocket Validator scans thousands of pages in seconds, detecting HTML issues across your entire site.

Start Free Trial See Pricing

Related W3C Validator Issues (4)

End tag had attributes.

End tags in HTML must not have any attributes.

According to the HTML specification, only start tags (also called opening tags) may contain attributes, while end tags must appear as a plain </tagname> with nothing else.

For example, this is invalid and will trigger the error:

<p>Welcome to the site.</p class="welcome">

Correct code removes the attribute from the end tag:

<p>Welcome to the site.</p>

If you need the element to have an attribute, only include it in the start tag:

<p class="welcome">Welcome to the site.</p>

No space between attributes.

Attributes in HTML elements need to be separated by space, in this example the first line is invalid and the second one is valid:

<a href="page.php"class="big">link</a>

<a href="page.php" class="big">link</a>

Saw “=” when expecting an attribute name. Probable cause: Attribute name missing.

Attributes for HTML elements must be defined like name="value". The name may be missing before the =.

Some examples:

<!-- Missing equal sign -->

<p name "value"></p>

<!-- Missing space before the attribute -->

<pname "value"></p>

Saw “"” when expecting an attribute name. Probable cause: “=” missing immediately before.

Attributes for HTML elements must be defined like name="value". A common issue is missing the =, or repeating the " like in these examples:

<!-- Missing equal sign -->

<p name "value"></p>

<!-- Repeated quotes -->

<p name="value""></p>

Ready to validate your sites?
Start your free trial today.

Pro Trial Free Trial