Abbreviations and Acronyms Tags

The abbreviations and acronyms tags are really useful especially if you find yourself using alot of abbreviations and acronyms. Normal etiquette is to define what you mean when you use an abbreviation or an acronym. Never assume someone knows what you mean.

There are two HTML tags that you can use to clarify your meaning on your Web pages when you use abbreviations or acronyms. The first is for abbreviations:

<abbr></abbr>

An abbreviation is defined as the shortening of a word or phrase, either by using the first few letters or, in the case of a phrase, the first letter of each word. Some examples of abbreviations are:

• NY = New York
• HTML = HyperText Markup Language

With the <abbr> tag you can include a definition of your abbreviation right on the page itself. Most browsers, except for Internet Explorer 6, support the <abbr> tag . Using the Abbr tags, will display that word with some type of indication to show that it's got a definition associated with it or by displaying a tool tip when the mouse hovers over the word.. You include your definition in the title attribute of the <abbr> tag. This is an example:

<abbr title="New York ">NY</abbr> would like like so NY

The <acronym> tag acts in a very similar way to the <abbr> tag, but rather than defining abbreviations, it defines acronyms. It Looks as so:

<acronym></acronym>

An acronym is a word that is made by using the first letters of a phrase or by combining initial letters or parts of words to get a new word. An example of an acronym: NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Many people mistake acronyms as being just shortenings of phrases by taking their first letters, but unless it forms a new word by doing that, it is just an abbreviation.

Modern browsers (including Internet Explorer) support the <acronym> tag by either displaying the acronym with some indication that there is a definition associated with it or by displaying a tool tip when the mouse hovers over the word. You include your definition in the title attribute of the <acronym> tag. Here is the workign example:

<acronym title="National Aeronautics and Space Administration">NASA</acronym> will be dispalyed as NASA