HTML Checking for Large Sites

A button element, or an element with the role=button attribute, is not allowed to be nested inside an <a> element.

An <a> element cannot contain a descendant element with the attribute tabindex.

Learn more:

• MDN: tabindex

When nesting a select element inside a label that has a for attribute, the id attribute of the select is required to match it.

The label element represents a caption in a user interface. The caption can be associated with a specific form control, known as the label element’s labeled control, either using the for attribute, or by putting the form control inside the label element itself.

When the select is inside the label, there’s no need to specify a for attribute as there can only be one select, as in this example:

<label>
  Age
  <select>
    <option>young</option>
    <option>old</option>
  </select>
</label>

However, if the for attribute is specified, then it must match the id of the select like this:

<label for="age">
  Age
  <select id="age">
    <option>young</option>
    <option>old</option>
  </select>
</label>

Learn more:

• HTML Living Standard: the label element
• HTML Living Standard: the select element

The href attribute of an <a> element contains an invalid character, that should be properly encoded as a URI percent-encoded character.

Learn more:

• Wikipedia: percent-encoding

The target attribute on <a> elements can’t be blank.

This attribute defines the browsing context for links, that is, where should the linked documents be opened. This was used extensively on the now deprecated <frame> element, so you could give the name of the frame to open the document in, but is now more used to force links to open in a separate tab or window using target="_blank". Another option is using a name, so the new browsing context can be referred to on subsequent clicks on links with the same target.

For example, this will force the links to open on a new tab:

<a href="https://example.com" target="_blank">will open a blank tab</a>

Learn more:

• HTML Living Standard: Browsing context names

<a> tags can be used to link to an email address using the mailto protocol in the href attribute. Ensure that there is no space in the email address.

<a href="mailto: liza@example.com">This is wrong as it contains an space</a>

<a href="mailto:liza@example.com">This is OK</a>

The <label> element represents a caption in a document, and it can be associated with a form input using the for attribute, which must be an ID. Document IDs cannot contain whitespace.

Example:

<form>
  <label for="user_name">Name</label>
  <input type="text" id="user_name" />
</form>

Learn more:

• MDN: label
• HTML Spec: the label element

Space characters are not allowed in href attributes. Instead, they should be converted to %20. In this example, the first line is invalid and the second is valid:

<a href="https://example.com#some term">invalid</a>
<a href="https://example.com#some%20term">valid</a>

The href attribute on an <a> tag contains an space, which is not allowed. Consider replacing space characters with “%20”.

The value used in the target property of an <a> element has been identified as a keyword because it starts with an underscore _, but it’s not a valid keyword.

Values starting with an underscore for the target property are used for reserved keywords like _blank, _self, _parent or _top.

Learn more:

• HTML Spec: links created by a elements
• HTML Spec: valid browsing content or keyword

The type attribute on <a> elements, when present, gives a hint on the MIME type of the linked resource, for example:

<a href="application/pdf" src="book.pdf">Read our book</a>
<a href="image/jpeg" src="photo.jpeg">See a photo</a>

That is, we’re talking about the type of the linked resource, not the type of the <a> element, as it’s sometimes misunderstood. The following example is invalid because button is not a valid MIME type.

<a href="/order.php" type="button">Submit</a>

Learn more:

• HTML Spec: the type attribute

The <a> element requires either a href attribute, or a role attribute.

Learn more:

• HTML Spec: the a element

A <div> tag has been found as a direct child of an <ul> tag, and this is not allowed. For example, <ul><div><li>item</li></div></ul> is not valid, but <ul><li><div>item</div></li></ul> is valid as the direct child of <ul> is <li>.

Drop-down lists can be defined in HTML by using the <select> tag, containing the different <option>s. Each <option> must have a name, which can be either contained between <option> and </option>, or alternatively using the label attribute.

Example:

<select name="size">
  <option value="s">small</option>
  <option value="m" label="medium"></option>
</select>

The element X is not allowed as a child element of Y. For example, a <ul> element cannot have a <div> child element.

An </a> end tag has been found to violate nesting rules. <a> tags can’t include other <a> tags inside. Most probable cause is an unclosed <a> tag, like in this example:

<a href="one.html">Page 1
<a href="two.html">Page 2</a>

An end tag </code> has been found violating nesting rules. Check other errors in the same document related to the <code> element, and fix the unallowed nested elements.

An end tag </strong> has been found in an incorrect place within the document, violating nesting rules. A common case is closing it before closing other nested tags, for example:

<!-- This line is incorrect as the <strong> tag was closed before the nested <a> tag -->
<strong><a href="#">link</strong></a>

<!--- This line is OK as every end tag respects the nesting rules -->
<strong><a href="#">link</a></strong>

The label element may only contain one labelable descendant.

For example:

<label for="age">
  Age
  <select id="age">
    <option>young</option>
    <option>old</option>
  </select>
</label>

Learn more:

• HTML Living Standard: the label element

An <a> tag can’t include other <a> tags inside. Most probable cause is an unclosed <a> tag, like in this example:

<a href="one.html">Page 1
<a href="two.html">Page 2</a>

An <a> element has been found in an invalid place within a <table> element.

For example, the following code would cause this issue:

<table>
  <tr>
    <a href="#">link</a>
  </tr>
</table>

Instead, the <a> element should be inside a <td> element, as a <tr> can’t hold content directly:

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <a href="#">link</a>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

A <label> element cannot contain other <label> as a descendant. Check for nested elements or closing tags that may have been misinterpreted, for example:

<label>name</label></label>

The <caption> element specifies the caption (or title) of a table. It’s not allowed for a <caption> to contain another table.

The label element may contain only one labelable descendant.

For example:

<label for="age">
  Age
  <select id="age">
    <option>young</option>
    <option>old</option>
  </select>
</label>

Learn more:

• HTML Living Standard: the label element

Links created with the <a> element no longer accept a shape attribute. In order to define image maps, use the <area> element instead.

Learn more:

• MDN: area element

<label> tags are used to label inputs in form, which need to be present and visible in the document, for example:

<label for="age">Age</label>
<input id="age" />