<main>: The Main element
BaselineWidely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The<main>HTML element represents the dominant content of the<body> of a document. The main content area consists of content that is directly related to or expands upon the central topic of a document, or the central functionality of an application.
Try it
<header>Gecko facts</header><main> <p> Geckos are a group of usually small, usually nocturnal lizards. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. </p> <p> Many species of gecko have adhesive toe pads which enable them to climb walls and even windows. </p></main>header { font: bold 7vw Arial, sans-serif;}A document mustn't have more than one<main> element that doesn't have thehidden attribute specified.
Attributes
This element only includes theglobal attributes.
Usage notes
The content of a<main> element should be unique to the document. Content that is repeated across a set of documents or document sections such as sidebars, navigation links, copyright information, site logos, and search forms shouldn't be included unless the search form is the main function of the page.
<main> doesn't contribute to the document's outline; that is, unlike elements such as<body>, headings such ash2, and such,<main> doesn't affect theDOM's concept of the structure of the page. It's strictly informative.
Accessibility
Landmark
The<main> element behaves like amain landmark role.Landmarks can be used by assistive technology to quickly identify and navigate to large sections of the document. Prefer using the<main> element over declaringrole="main", unless there arelegacy browser support concerns.
Skip navigation
Skip navigation, also known as "skipnav", is a technique that allows an assistive technology user to quickly bypass large sections of repeated content (main navigation, info banners, etc.). This lets the user access the main content of the page faster.
Adding anid attribute to the<main> element lets it be a target of a skip navigation link.
<body> <a href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a> <!-- navigation and header content --> <main> <!-- main page content --> </main></body>Reader mode
Browser reader mode functionality looks for the presence of the<main> element, as well asheading andcontent sectioning elements when converting content into a specialized reader view.
Examples
<!-- other content --><main> <h1>Apples</h1> <p>The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree.</p> <article> <h2>Red Delicious</h2> <p> These bright red apples are the most common found in many supermarkets. </p> <p>…</p> <p>…</p> </article> <article> <h2>Granny Smith</h2> <p>These juicy, green apples make a great filling for apple pies.</p> <p>…</p> <p>…</p> </article></main><!-- other content -->Result
Technical summary
| Content categories | Flow content, palpable content. |
|---|---|
| Permitted content | Flow content. |
| Tag omission | None; both the starting and ending tags are mandatory. |
| Permitted parents | Whereflow content is expected, but only if it is ahierarchically correctmain element. |
| Implicit ARIA role | main |
| Permitted ARIA roles | Norole permitted |
| DOM interface | HTMLElement |
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| HTML # the-main-element |