Abbreviation <abbr> or Acronym <acronym>?
More so than ever before I find myself regularly using the abbreviation <abbr> and acronym <acronym> tags, and yet I have never really known which tag to use… until today. Hopefully this blog will inform other confused web designers out there the correct time to use each tag.
Since I design websites with accessibility issues in mind, I realise it is always a good idea to include either the abbreviation or acronym tag. These tags ensure people with screen reading software can interpret the web pages content correctly, and provide a useful way for others to find out what the letters actually stand for by hovering the mouse over the letters.
These are examples of abbreviations and accronyms. Hover your mouse over each example to find out what they stand for.
- HTTP
- USB
- UFO
- BBC
- NATO
Now which of the above are abbreviations and which are accronyms. Well they are all abbreviations other than the last example which is an acronym.
The Abbreviation and Acronym Rule
The rule is, if the letters are pronounced as a word it is an acronym, in our example we refer to the letters NATO as "NAYTO". If we pronounce the individual letters like BBC it is an abbreviation.