microformat
Microformats (μF) are a set of defined HTML classes created to serve as consistent and descriptive metadata about an element, designating it as representing a certain type of data (such as contact information, geographic coordinates, events ...
standard for displaying a semantic
(X)HTML
Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) is part of the family of XML markup languages. It mirrors or extends versions of the widely used HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the language in which Web pages are formulated.
While HTML, prior ...
representation of
iCalendar
The Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information, a ...
-format calendar information about an event, on web pages, using HTML classes and ''rel'' attributes.
It allows parsing tools (for example other websites, or browser add-ons like
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...
's Operator extension) to extract the details of the event, and display them using some other website, index or search them, or to load them into a calendar or diary program, for instance. Multiple instances can be displayed as timelines.
Example
Consider this semi-fictional example:
The English Wikipedia was launched
on 15 January 2001 with a party from
2-4pm at
Jimmy Wales' house
(more information).
The HTML mark-up might be:
The English Wikipedia was launched
on 15 January 2001 with a party from
2-4pm at
Jimmy Wales' house
(more information)
hCalendar mark-up may be added using spanHTML elements and the classesvevent, summary, dtstart (start date), dtend (end date), location and url:
The English Wikipedia was launched
on 15 January 2001 with a party from
2pm-
4pm at
Jimmy Wales' house
(more information)
Note the use of the abbr element to contain the machine readable,
ISO8601
ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, wi ...
, date-time format for the start and end times.
Accessibility concerns
Concerns have been expressed that, where it occurs, the use of the abbr element (using the so-calle abbr-design-pattern in the above manner causes accessibility problems, not least for users of screen readers and aural browsers. The newe h-event microformat therefore uses the
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
element time instead:
Geo
The Geo microformat is a part of the hCalendar specification, and is often used to include the coordinates of the event's location within an hCalendar.
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
*
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
(in Google maps and in Search Engine Results Pages )
*The
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
University of Bath
(Virgil, Georgics II)
, mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind
, established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
hCalendar Examples in the wild · Microformats Wiki /ref>
*The
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...