Firefox Tomorrow

html element

`<span>` HTML content span element

View on MDN ↗

The <span> HTML element is a generic inline container for phrasing content, which does not inherently represent anything. It can be used to group elements for styling purposes (using the class or id attributes), or because they share attribute values, such as lang. It should be used only when no other semantic element is appropriate. <span> is very much like a <div> element, but <div> is a block-level element whereas a <span> is an inline-level element.

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.
<p>
  Add the <span class="ingredient">basil</span>,
  <span class="ingredient">pine nuts</span> and
  <span class="ingredient">garlic</span> to a blender and blend into a paste.
</p>

<p>
  Gradually add the <span class="ingredient">olive oil</span> while running the
  blender slowly.
</p>

span.ingredient {
  color: red;
}

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Example

Example 1

HTML

<p><span>Some text</span></p>

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Example 2

HTML

<li>
  <span>
    <a href="portfolio.html" target="_blank">See my portfolio</a>
  </span>
</li>

CSS

li span {
  background: gold;
}

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Technical summary

Content categories Flow content, phrasing content.
Permitted content Phrasing content.
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts phrasing content, or any element that accepts flow content.
Implicit ARIA role No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles Any
DOM interface [`HTMLSpanElement`](/firefox/mdn/api/htmlspanelement/)

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also