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<legend> (Field Legend)

This HTML 4 element is used to assign a caption to a set of form fields as defined by the <fieldset> element.

Standard Syntax

Attributes Defined by Internet Explorer

align="center" (4)
contenteditable=" false | true | inherit" (5.5)
disabled="false | true" (5.5)
hidefocus="true | false" (5.5)
language="javascript | jscript | vbs | vbscript" (4)
tabindex="number" (5.5)
unselectable="on | off" (5.5)

Standard Event Attributes

onclick, ondblclick, onkeydown, onkeypress, onkeyup, onmousedown, onmousemove, onmouseout, onmouseover, onmouseup

Events Defined by Internet Explorer

onactivate, onafterupdate, onbeforeactivate, onbeforecopy, onbeforecut, onbeforedeactivate, onbeforeeditfocus, onbeforepaste, onblur, oncontextmenu, oncontrolselect, oncopy, oncut, ondeactivate, onerrorupdate, onfocus, onfocusin, onfocusout, onhelp, onlosecapture, onmouseenter, onmouseleave, onmouseup, onmousewheel, onmove, onmoveend, onmovestart, onpaste, onpropertychange, onreadystatechange, onresize, onresizeend, onresizestart, ontimeerror

Element Specific Attributes

accesskey

This attribute specifies a keyboard navigation accelerator for the element. Pressing ALT or a similar key in association with the specified key selects the form section or the legend itself.

align

This attribute indicates where the legend value should be positioned within the border created by a <fieldset> element. The default position for the legend is the upper-left corner. It also is possible to position the legend to the right by setting the attribute to right. The specification defines bottom and top as well. Microsoft defines the use of center and also defines another attribute, valign, to set the vertical alignment separately. Future support for valign is unclear; page designers are encouraged to use only the align attribute and to eventually rely on style sheets for legend positioning.

Example

<form>
<fieldset>
<legend align="top">User Information</legend>
First Name: <input type="text" id="firstname"
   size="20"><br>
Last Name: <input type="text" id="lastname"
  size="20"><br>
</fieldset>
</form>

Compatibility

HTML 4, 4.01, XHTML 1.0, 1.1, Basic
Internet Explorer 4, 5, 5.5, 6
Netscape 6, 7
Opera 4-7

Notes

A <legend> tag should occur only within a <fieldset> tag. There should be only one legend per fieldset element.

The <legend> tag improves accessibility when the fieldset is not rendered visually.

Some versions of Microsoft documentation show a valign attribute for <legend> positioning. However, the valign attribute does not appear to work consistently and has since been dropped from the official documentation.