html

This repository is the source for the HTML Standard, which is the official specification for the HTML language used to build web pages. HTML is the markup language that browsers interpret to display text, images, links, forms, and other content on the web. The specification defines exactly how HTML is supposed to work, covering topics like the structure of documents, how different elements behave, how browsers should parse and render HTML, and how features like storage, background workers, server-sent events, and the canvas drawing surface operate.

The HTML Standard is maintained by the WHATWG, a group of browser vendors and contributors who work together to keep web standards up to date. The specification is a living document, meaning it is continuously updated rather than released in discrete versions. The actual content of the specification lives in a single large source file in this repository.

The repository is a place where issues can be filed and pull requests can be submitted to propose changes or fixes to the specification. Tests that verify browser implementations match the standard are kept separately in another project called web-platform-tests. Contributors who want to preview changes locally can build the HTML output from the source file using instructions in the contributing guidelines.

The README for this repository is intentionally short because the specification itself, available at the linked website, is the main document. People looking to understand HTML the language would typically read tutorials or references, not this specification, which is written for browser implementors.