Landing a job as an HTML developer requires strong technical skills and the ability to ace the interview. In this competitive field you need to be fully prepared to answer common HTML CSS, and JavaScript questions.
This comprehensive guide covers the top 100 HTML developer interview questions that assess your technical knowledge. Master these questions, and you’ll be ready to impress hiring managers and get the HTML developer job you want.
1. What is the difference between HTML tags and elements?
-
HTML tags are used to create HTML elements. Tags exist in pairs like
<h1>
and</h1>
to wrap around content to make it into an element. -
Elements include the tags and anything within them. As an example, this is a paragraph element that has a text node inside it.
2. What are tags and attributes in HTML?
-
Tags are used to create HTML elements that define different content types. For example,
<img>
tags create image elements. -
Attributes provide additional information about an element that won’t appear as content. For example <a href=”www.example.com”> uses the href attribute to specify the link destination.
3. What are void elements in HTML?
Void elements don’t have a separate closing tag because they only have one tag. Some common void elements include:
<br>
for line breaks<hr>
for horizontal rules<img>
for images<input>
for form inputs
The forward slash /
is used to close void elements like <br />
.
4. What is the advantage of collapsing white space in HTML?
Collapsing white space means that multiple whitespace characters like spaces, tabs, and line breaks get collapsed into a single space in the HTML source code.
The advantage is that it improves code readability by ignoring unnecessary white space. The browser renders the output normally regardless of white space in HTML.
5. What are HTML entities?
HTML entities allow you to display reserved characters that are used in HTML syntax, like <
and >
. Entities start with an ampersand &
and end with a semicolon ;
.
For example, <
displays <
and >
displays >
. This prevents the browser from mistaking these characters for HTML tags.
6. What are different types of lists in HTML?
There are three types of lists in HTML:
-
Unordered lists
<ul>
are used for grouped related items marked with bullets. -
Ordered lists
<ol>
display items in a numbered sequence. -
Description lists
<dl>
group terms and their descriptions.
7. What is the ‘class’ attribute in HTML?
The class attribute specifies one or more class names for an HTML element. It is commonly used by CSS and JavaScript to select and manipulate elements with specific styling or behavior.
Multiple elements can share the same class name allowing common styling and behavior to be applied using a single class.
8. How iscell padding different from cell spacing in HTML tables?
-
Cell padding specifies the space between a table cell’s border and its content.
-
Cell spacing specifies the space between individual cells in a table.
Cell padding affects the readability of the table content, while cell spacing affects the spacing and layout of the table itself.
9. What is the difference between span and div elements?
-
<span>
is an inline element used for styling parts of text inside blocks. -
<div>
is a block element that groups larger sections of code into blocks.
<span>
doesn’t break the flow of text whereas <div>
creates block-level breaks before and after itself.
10. How can you make a numbered or bulleted list vertical in HTML?
You can make lists display vertically using the list-style-type
CSS property:
ul { list-style-type: vertical;}
For numbered lists, set list-style-type
to decimal
instead.
11. What are the various formatting tags in HTML?
HTML has several tags for formatting text:
<b>
– Bold text<strong>
– Important text<i>
– Italic text<em>
– Emphasized text<mark>
– Highlighted text<small>
– Smaller text<del>
– Deleted text<ins>
– Inserted text<sub>
– Subscript text<sup>
– Superscript text
12. How can you embed JavaScript code in an HTML document?
There are two ways to embed JavaScript in HTML:
-
The
<script>
tag allows you to write inline JS code inside HTML. -
The
src
attribute can link to an external JavaScript file from<script src="script.js">
13. What is semantic HTML?
Semantic HTML refers to using HTML tags and attributes that accurately describe the meaning of content rather than just formatting. For example:
<header>
instead of<div>
for header content<nav>
instead of<div>
for site navigation<main>
instead of<div>
for main content
This improves accessibility, SEO, and maintains cleaner code.
14. What is the difference between <section>
and <div>
elements?
-
<div>
groups content for styling purposes without conveying any meaning. -
<section>
defines a section of related content like chapters in a book. It should have a heading and is a semantic element.
15. What are the advantages of external CSS stylesheets?
Advantages of linking external CSS instead of using inline styles:
-
Site-wide consistency: Global changes from one CSS file
-
Faster page loading: Cacheable across pages
-
Separation of concerns: Separate styling from HTML code
-
Maintainability: Easier to understand, manage, and update code
16. How can you apply CSS styles to HTML elements?
There are three ways to apply CSS to HTML:
-
Inline styles –
style
attribute like<h1 style="color: blue;">
-
Internal stylesheet –
<style>
tag in HTML head -
External stylesheet –
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
in head
The best practice is to use external stylesheets for maintenance and caching benefits.
17. What are the various CSS selectors you can use to target elements?
CSS selectors used to target elements:
-
Type selector – target by element name like
p
-
Class selector – target
.classname
-
ID selector – target
#id
-
Attribute selector – target
a[target]
-
Pseudo-class selector – target special states like
a:hover
-
Descendant selector – target child elements like
ul li
18. What is the CSS box model and what are its components?
The CSS box model describes the rectangular boxes that are generated for elements in the document and consists of:
-
Content – The content inside the element, like text or image
-
Padding – Space around content, inside of border
-
Border – The edge surrounding padding and content
-
Margin – Outermost layer surrounding border, outside of element
19. How are flexbox and CSS grid different?
Flexbox | CSS Grid |
---|---|
1-dimensional layout | 2-dimensional layout |
Items flex to fill container | Explicit positions using grid lines |
Space distribution between items | Template areas for entire layout |
Components like navbars and widgets | Complex page layouts |
Flexbox distributes space and sizes based on available space. CSS grid places items at specific locations in a predefined grid.
20. What are the steps to animate elements using CSS?
To animate elements with CSS:
-
Define the animation name using
@keyframes
-
Specify the animation duration, timing function, delay, and iteration count
-
Apply the animation to elements using the
animation
property -
Set the states like
:hover
to trigger animations
21. What are the advantages of using CSS preprocessors like Sass?
Advantages of using CSS preprocessors:
- Nesting for simpler code reuse
- Variables and mixins for consistency
- Mathematical operations for dimensions
- Modular architecture for maintainability
- Custom built-in functions and mixins
- Better browser support
This avoids repetitive CSS and allows modular, scalable stylesheets.
22. What are the different ways to responsively design a website?
Some ways to make a responsive website are:
- Flexible layout using
%
orvw
units - Media queries to apply CSS styles based on breakpoints
- Responsive images using
max-width
and size attributes
Intermediate HTML Interview questions and answers
What is the hierarchy of style sheets?
In style sheets, the style tag takes priority, and external style sheets take the least priority.
SVG stands for scalable vector graphics. It is used to describe visuals in XML language.
How do you add a video to an HTML page
To add a video to your page you can use the tag.
What are the media formats supported by HTML?
HTML supports various media types and formats such as,
- Audio: WMA, MIDI, AAC, WAV, MP3, MP4
- Video: MPEG, AVI, WMV, WebM, QuickTime, MP4, etc.
- : jpg, jpeg, png, gif, SVG
What is the tag used for?
The element is used to define and specify content in a document that is independent of the document. This element is used for defining blog posts, articles, and long-form posts.
How do you open an external CSS file in a browser?
To open a CSS extension file, one needs to use the tag. This will reference the CSS file.
What is the iframe tag used for?
The tag is used to define inline frames. It is mainly used to define a webpage within a webpage. Below is an example of using the tag:
Can you create multi-colored text in HTML?
Yes, you can use the following syntax to create different multi-colored texts.
When do you use frames?
Frames make page navigation easier. If the page’s links are put inside frames, they will show up at the top or bottom of the browser.
How can you send mail directly from the webpage?
Using the “mailto” command in the href tag makes it easy to make a link text that can be clicked on:
What is an attribute?
An attribute in HTML is a property that can be added to an HTML tag. Attributes can change the way tags are displayed.
How does one insert a copyright sign?
You can insert a copyright symbol by using the © to any HTML document.
Can you create links to different sections within the same document?
Yes, this can be easily done by using the tag along the referencing symbol #. This will create different links within the same web page.
What is the difference between cell padding and spacing?
The space between two cells in the same table is called cell spacing. The space between the contents of a cell or the cell border is called cell padding.
What is an entity?
An entity is a group of characters that stand for special characters or symbols that you can’t type with a regular keyboard. These are strings that start with “&” symbol and end with a “;” symbol.
What happens when you overlap a set of tags?
When you overlap two or more sets of tags, the first tag will be recognized. This will make things wrong because the web browser won’t be able to read the page correctly, which will lead to mistakes on the page.
Applets are small programs that are embedded within web pages. They perform different functions such as animations, computations, and information processing.
What are the benefits of grouping checkboxes?
Grouping checkboxes has several advantages including:
- Simplified processing
- Improved organization
- Consistency
- Optimized user experience
Explain why we need to use doctype in HTML.
Doctype is used for declaring document-type objects. This also tells the web browser the type of HTML and version used to build the page.
Differentiate between inline and block elements.
Block elements are programmed to take up as much space as they need, while inline elements are made to take up very little space.
What are the ways to insert JavaScript into your document?
There are various ways to insert JavaScript into an HTML document. It can be done either via code embedding, using inline code, or by linking to an external file.
Define what is Canvas.
Canvas is an element used to create better graphics for web pages. One can simply write a JavaScript block code that can be used to create a canvas.
What is a script tag used for?
The tag is used to define the script for the client side.
Can text appear outside the browser?
Yes, this can happen when the width of the defined table is wider than the browsers width.
Can anyone change the color of the bullets?
Yes, the color for bullets can be changed by customizing them into a different color using CSS.
How do you define colors for table borders?
You can define the color for table borders in the style sheet. If this is not supported the text color will be used instead.
What is the difference between ruler and border attributes?
If you set the border attribute to zero, the cell borders and thickness will be used by default. If you add a rule attribute to a tag, the border attribute will not be included. The default one-pixel border will be shown instead.
Create an example that shows nested web pages.
This is done by using the iframe tag:
What is an HTML form?
A form is designed to take a user’s input which will be sent for processing.
How many tags are available in HTML?
There are more than 100 tags available.
What is an application cache?
An application cache is a function that allows a developer to run their project offline through caching. This feature is mostly used for testing features.
Define a cite tag.
A tag is used to mark a certain portion of text. It is mainly used when you have quoted or referenced something from a different source.
Can you get a geographic location of a user in HTML?
Of course, but you would have to add the geolocation API to your HTML page in order to get to the user’s location.
What editor can you use to create HTML pages?
There are many available editors such as Sublime Text, Notepad ++, and Chrome editor.
Define longdesc in HTML.
Longdesc is an attribute that allows you to provide a link with a comprehensive description for an .
Define the POST and GET method.
To get information from a server, you use the GET method. To send information to a server, you use the POST method.
Websockets let web apps that use the same socket talk to each other in both directions using JavaScript interfaces in HTML5 browsers.
Define what is a Box model.
A box model provides the description for how elements are sized and displayed on the page. Each page may have a width, height, padding, borders, and margins. This is related to the CSS styling property.
Why should you use an Embed tag?
The tag is used for embedding , video or audio files inside an HTML document. This tag requires a closing tag.
Advanced HTML interview questions and answers
Create a CSS popup example.
Create an example that adds a scroll bar in Html
Demonstrate how to create a box in HTML.
What is blink text?
The tag is a non-standard element used to create enclosed text.
Define an anchor tag.
An anchor tag is used to link two or more web pages together using the tag.
Create an example of a menu in HTML.
What is HTML encoding?
It is used to forward header information to the server so as to display text not HTML code. This encoding parses non-ASCII special characters and replace them with the standard form.
Create an HTML form example.
Void elements are elements that have only the start tags and don’t contain any content within them.
Create a drop-down list example.
Can you change an inline element to a block element?
This is possible. Just use the display property and set the value to block to turn the inline element into a block element. Example:
Define what is MathML.
MathML stands for Mathematics Markup Language used for performing mathematical equations in web browsers.
What is the lang attribute used for?
The lang attribute is used to specify the language used to write the content of a web page. For example: or.
Define Web Worker in HTML.
Web worker is a multithread object used for executing JavaScript. It runs in the background and doesn’t affect the performance of the webpage or application.
What is a manifest file?
The manifest is a file that tells the browser to save copies of certain web pages so that they can be used when you’re not online.
How do you handle JavaScript events in HTML?
Events represent an action or occurrence. Events are typically used on buttons, hyperlinks, and hovers. This is a syntax example of how to handle events:
What is multipart data?
Multipart form data is an enctype attribute of the tag that tells the tag how to encode form data. It is part of the two ways of encoding HTML forms.
Create a CSS example where you set the background color of an HTML document to yellow.
Create an example that defines text inside element.
Create a JavaScript script that changes the text size.
HTML5 is the 5th or the latest version of Hypertext Markup Language. It is the standard markup language for creating and describing the structure of a webpage.
What is the difference between HTML and HTML5?
Can you link CSS to HTML5?
Yes, you can link CSS to HTML5 by using the tag in the header section.
Does HTML5 have a player?
Yes, HTML5 has a player that has the ability to show engaging videos on any platform.
List the new form elements that are now available in HTML5.
These are:
- — to show a list of suggestions next to a text element
- — it sends encrypted data to the server by making a key for encryption
- — This element is used to show numbers that are in a certain range.
- displays the progress of the task
What tags are no longer valid in HTML5?
- — for setting the text’s font, size, and color
- – for defining a directory list
- – o define a single-line input field
- – for defining a set of frames
- – for non-framing a section
- – used to teletype a text
- – to strikethrough a text
Why is SVG the most preferred for formats?
You can easily change the size of an SVG file and make changes to it in any text editor. The quality is good at any size.
How do you center text in HTML5?
Since the tag is deprecated, you can use the CSS text-align property to the desired element.
Create a table example in HTML5.
This is how you create a table in HTML5:
Create an example of how to use the Geolocation API in HTML5.
HTML Interview Questions And Answers | HTML Interview Preparation | Simplilearn
FAQ
What is doctype in HTML interview questions?
What is HTML very short question answer?
How to prepare for a web developer interview?
Next, you should focus your attention on CSS. CSS is the technology used to apply styles to a web page, complementary to HTML. It is almost certain that you’ll be asked about both HTML and CSS in an interview. You can also prepare by checking out the top 7 CSS interview questions or Web Developer Interview Questions You Can Expect to Hear.
Will I be asked about HTML & CSS in an interview?
It is almost certain that you’ll be asked about both HTML and CSS in an interview. You can also prepare by checking out the top 7 CSS interview questions or Web Developer Interview Questions You Can Expect to Hear. Best of luck, and happy job hunting!
What are HTML interview questions?
We’ve divided these questions into beginner, intermediate and advanced level HTML interview questions. 1. Define HTML. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is a standard text formatting language that creates and displays a variety of pages on the web. 2. What are the components of HTML?
How long does it take to hire a vetted HTML developer?
Hire top vetted developers within 4 days. To conclude, any HTML developer always needs to be well prepared for any question that the recruiter asks. The developer interviews come in different stages and the above-mentioned questions and answers are meant to address every stage of the interview, specifically the technical one.