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HTML <dt> id Attribute

An id on a <dt> tag assigns an identifier to the element.

The identifier must be unique across the page.

Example

#

An id attribute on 3 <dt> elements.

Kunstmuseum
Basel, Switzerland
Washington DC, USA
Musée d'Orsay
Paris, France
<dl>
  <dt id="dt-kunst">Kunstmuseum</dt>
  <dd>Basel, Switzerland</dd> 
  <dt id="dt-gallery">National Gallery of Art</dt>
  <dd>Washington DC, USA</dd>
  <dt id="dt-orsay">Musée d'Orsay</dt>
  <dd>Paris, France</dd>
</dl>

Using id

The id attribute assigns an identifier to the <dt> element.

The identifier must be unique across the page.

The id allows JavaScript to easily access the <dt> element.

Tip:  id is a global attribute that can be applied to any HTML element.


Syntax

<dt id="identifier" />

Values

#

Value Description
identifier A unique alphanumeric string. The id value must begin with a letter ([aside-Zaside-z]) and may be followed by any number of letters, digits ([0-9]), hyphens (-), underscores (_), colons (:), and periods (.).

More Examples

Three <dt> elements, each with a unique id.
Clicking the buttons displays the content of the respective <dt> elements.

1. Kunstmuseum
Basel, Switzerland
2. National Gallery of Art
Washington DC, USA
3. Musée d'Orsay
Paris, France

<dl>
  <dt id="mydt1">1. Kunstmuseum</dt>
  <dd>Basel, Switzerland</dd> 
  <dt id="mydt2">2. National Gallery of Art</dt>
  <dd>Washington DC, USA</dd>
  <dt id="mydt3">3. Musée d'Orsay</dt>
  <dd>Paris, France</dd>
</dl>

<br />
<button onclick="show('mydt1')">Show 1</button>
<button onclick="show('mydt2')">Show 2</button>
<button onclick="show('mydt3')">Show 3</button>

<script>
  let show = id => {
    let element = document.getElementById(id);
    alert("Location = " + element.innerHTML);
  }
</script>

Code explanation

The id attributes assign a unique identifier to the <dt> elements.

Clicking the buttons calls JavaScript which locates the elements using their ids.

Finally, the content of the <dt> element is displayed in an alert box.


Browser support

Here is when id support started for each browser:

Chrome
1.0 Sep 2008
Firefox
1.0 Sep 2002
IE/Edge
1.0 Aug 1995
Opera
1.0 Jan 2006
Safari
1.0 Jan 2003

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