HTML 5 <param> Tag

The HTML <param> tag is used for passing parameters to an embedded object.

This tag is used in conjunction with the <object> tag.

To use the <param> tag, you need to nest it inside a <object> element.

Example

Here's an example of <param> usage.

In this example, we are passing two parameters to the embedded object: "autoplay" and "controller". The "autoplay" parameter is set to "false", so the music won't start playing as soon as the page loads. Instead, the user has to press the play button to start the audio. The "controller" attribute is set to "true" and so specifies that the controls applicable to this object (i.e. audio controls) should be visible.

Tip: Although this example uses an audio file, HTML 5 also includes an element specifically for use with audio. This is the <audio> tag.

Attributes

HTML tags can contain one or more attributes. Attributes are added to a tag to provide the browser with more information about how the tag should appear or behave. Attributes consist of a name and a value separated by an equals (=) sign, with the value surrounded by double quotes. Here's an example, style="color:black;".

There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.

The attributes that you can add to this tag are listed below.

Element-Specific Attributes

The following table shows the attributes that are specific to this tag/element.

AttributeDescription
nameDefines the name of the parameter. Required attribute.
valueSpecifies the value of the parameter. Required attribute.

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML 5 tags (although the tabindex attribute does not apply to dialog elements).

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handler Content Attributes

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

For a full list of event handlers, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.