# The “param” element is obsolete. Use the “data” attribute of the “object” element to set the URL of the external resource.

> Canonical HTML version: https://rocketvalidator.com/html-validation/the-param-element-is-obsolete-use-the-data-attribute-of-the-object-element-to-set-the-url-of-the-external-resource
> Attribution: Rocket Validator (https://rocketvalidator.com)
> License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The `<param>` element is obsolete in HTML5 and should no longer be used inside `<object>` elements.

The `<param>` element was originally used to pass named parameters to plugins embedded via `<object>`, such as Flash, Java applets, or Windows Media Player. Since modern browsers have dropped support for these plugins, the `<param>` element lost its purpose and was removed from the HTML living standard.

If the `<object>` element references an external resource like a video, PDF, or image, the resource URL belongs in the `data` attribute of the `<object>` element itself. The `type` attribute should specify the MIME type of the resource.

For media playback, the `<video>` and `<audio>` elements are the standard replacements. For other embedded content, `<iframe>` or `<embed>` may be more appropriate depending on the use case.

## HTML examples

### Before: obsolete `param` element

```html
<object>
  <param name="movie" value="video.mp4">
  <param name="autoplay" value="true">
</object>
```

### After: using the `data` attribute on `object`

```html
<object data="video.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <p>Your browser does not support this content.</p>
</object>
```

### After: using `video` for media playback

```html
<video src="video.mp4" controls>
  <p>Your browser does not support this video.</p>
</video>
```