# The “charset” attribute on the “script” element is obsolete.
> Canonical HTML version: https://rocketvalidator.com/html-validation/the-charset-attribute-on-the-script-element-is-obsolete
> Attribution: Rocket Validator (https://rocketvalidator.com)
> License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
The `charset` attribute was historically used to declare the character encoding of an external script file when it differed from the document's encoding. In modern HTML, this attribute is obsolete because the HTML specification now requires that the character encoding of an external script must match the encoding of the document itself. Since the document's encoding is already declared via `` (or through HTTP headers), specifying it again on individual `
```
This triggers the validation warning because `charset` is obsolete. The `type="text/javascript"` is also unnecessary since it's the default.
### Incorrect: `charset` on an inline script
```html
```
The `charset` attribute was only ever meaningful for external scripts, and even in that context it is now obsolete.
### Correct: clean script element
```html
```
### Correct: ensuring encoding is declared at the document level
```html
My Page
Content here.
```
The `` declaration in the `` covers the encoding for the entire document, including all linked scripts. No additional `charset` attributes are needed on individual elements.