HTML Interview Questions and Answers for Professionals

Updated 3 February 2023

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HTML is a widely used computer language for developing webpages. If you are appearing for a job position related to web development, the interviewer may ask you a few questions on HTML. Understanding various types of HTML questions and how to answer them can boost your confidence and help you impress the interviewer.

In this article, we list some popular HTML interview questions for freshers and experienced professionals along with tips and examples to answer them.

Basic HTML interview questions and answers for freshers

Here are some basic HTML interview questions for freshers along with answering tips and sample answers:

What is HTML?

This is a common question used to gauge your basic understanding of HTML. Hence, you can focus on telling the interviewer more than just the definition. Give the full form of the term ‘HTML' and broadly explain its applications.

Example: “HTML or hypertext markup language is a text formatting language for web documents. It describes a web page's structure to web browsers and helps them display the page content properly. Website developers often use HTML coding with CSS (cascading style sheet) and JavaScript (or a similar scripting language) to develop webpages.”

What are HTML tags?

Define what an HTML tag is, and briefly explain how it is used. You may also talk about the opening and closing of tags.

Example: “HTML tags are commands that define how the enclosed text is to be displayed. HTML content is usually wrapped between opening and closing tags. We are required to close all the open tags. For example, < p > tag marks the beginning for a paragraph and < /p > tag marks the closure of a paragraph.

There are some tags that we need not close. These are commonly known as self-closing tags. For example, < br / > for indicating line break, < meta > for indicating metadata and < img > for indicating an image are self-closing tags.”

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What is semantic HTML?

Explain what semantic HTML is and give some examples to bring out the differences between semantic and non-semantic HTML tags.

Example: “Semantic HTML is one which tells the web browsers about the type of content of a web document. It adds meaning to the document (and hence called ‘semantic') as against non-semantic, which only gives information about how a given content is to be presented.

For example, header tags like < h1 > and < h2 > indicate that the given content is a header. So, these tags are then presented as per header styles defined in the style sheet. On the other hand, non-semantic tags like < b > and < i > only indicate that the enclosed content is to be presented in bold and italic forms respectively. They do not add any meaning to the content.”

Give some examples of semantic and non-semantic HTML tags.

You may respond to this question by directly quoting a few examples of each type of tags. Briefly tell the meaning of each tag as you mention it.

Example: “Examples of semantic HTML tags include < p > tag for defining a paragraph, < h1 > to < h6 > tags for defining header text, < blockquote > tag for defining quotation from another source and < em > tag for defining emphasised text. Examples of non-semantic HTML tags include < b > tag for indicating bold text, < i > tag for indicating italic text and < u > tag for indicating underlined text.”

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When do you use < span > tags?

Explain how you use span tags to define content or apply styles in a web document. Consider giving a simple example. You may also discuss its similarity to division tags, but be sure to limit it to a sentence or two.

Example: “HTML < span > tags are inline containers. They may define a part of the document or apply styles to inline elements. < span > tags are similar to < div > tags. But, we use < span > tags as inline containers whereas < div > tags are used at block level. We can style a < span > tag using a CSS or control it with JavaScript. For example, to display enclosed text in red colour, we can code it as < span style="color:red" >text< /span >.”

How do you create a hyperlink in HTML?

Start your response by explaining the process of hyperlinking a text using < a > tag and ‘href' attribute. You may talk about different types of hyperlinks. If time permits, also include the process of hyperlinking images.

Example: “We can hyperlink text and images in HTML using an opening < a href > tag and closing it with a < /a > tag. For example, the syntax for a simple text hyperlink would look like < a href="https://www.website.com" >Anchor Text< /a >. To hyperlink an image, we are required to add an < img src > tag to an < a href > tag. The syntax in this case would look like < a href=”https://www.website.com” >< img src=”https://www.imagelocation.com” >< /a >.”

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Advanced HTML interview questions and answers for experienced professionals

Here are some HTML job interview questions for experienced professionals given along with answering tips and sample answers:

What is a style sheet?

Explain the utility of CSS in styling HTML documents. Talk about different ways to link a CSS with an HTML document.

Example: “A CSS or a cascading style sheet is a document that contains a set of style rules to define how an HTML document is to be displayed. For example, it may define font size, font style and text alignment for < p > tags of an HTML document.

We can have an internal or external style sheet. In the case of an external style sheet, we define the styles of HTML tags in a separate document and link the HTML document to it. In the case of an internal style sheet, we either embed the style rules at the top of the HTML document or place them inline along with tags and elements.”

Why do we use JavaScript with HTML?

This question tests your basic understanding of JavaScript in designing webpages. Explain how Universal JavaScript has made it possible to develop interactive static webpages developed with HTML alone instead of using PHP.

Example: “HTML often uses CSS and JavaScript in developing webpages. While HTML and CSS define structure and style for web documents, JavaScript helps in making web elements dynamic and interactive. For example, we can add a search box, embed a video and integrate social media feeds using JavaScript.”

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How do you add tables in HTML?

Focus your answer on the < table > tag. Explain how you can add rows, cells and headers using different elements.

Example: “We can add a table in an HTML document using a < table > tag. We can then define table header, table rows and table cells using < th >, < tr > and < td > elements respectively. Similarly, we can add other elements like < caption >, < thead > and < tbody > to format the table contents.”

How do you add lists in HTML?

Talk about different types of lists like ordered, unordered and description lists. Specify the HTML tags you use for each type of list.

Example: “We can add lists in HTML documents using a list tag. There are basically three types of lists, namely ordered lists, unordered lists and description lists. In an ordered list, items appear in a serially numbered order, whereas in an unordered list, items appear as bulleted points. We can add an ordered list using an < ol > tag and unordered list using a < ul > tag.

A description list includes description for the list items. It uses < dl > tag to define the list. We then use < dt > and < dd > tags for each list item. A < dt > tag indicates the name of the item and a < dd > tag describes the item.”

What do you know about HTML image maps?

This question measures your understanding of clickable maps. After telling the interviewer what an image map is, you can also describe the process of creating an image map using < map > and < area > tags.

Example: “HTML allows us to hyperlink different areas of an image to different webpages. Such an image with multiple clickable areas is called an image map. We can create image maps using < map > and < area > tags.

First, we are required to embed an image using an < img > tag with ‘usemap' attribute. We then add a < map > element to link the map to the image. The next step involves creating clickable areas on the map using the < area > element. We can define the shape of each area using different values like ‘rect' for a rectangular area, ‘poly' for a polygonal area and ‘circle' for a circular area.”

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