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Lesson 30: Time, Figures, and Captions (`<time>`, `<figure>`, `<figcaption>`)

The HTML Masterclass: From Zero to Web Developer

30. Time, Figures, and Captions

30.1 The <time> Element

Used to mark up dates, times, or durations in a machine-readable format. This helps search engines, accessibility tools, and scheduling software.

The human-readable text goes inside, and the machine-readable format goes in the datetime attribute (using ISO 8601 standard).

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<p> The conference starts on <time datetime="2025-01-20">January 20, 2025</time>. </p> <p> It lasted for <time datetime="PT3H">three hours</time>. </p>

30.2 Figures and Captions

The <figure> element is used to enclose content (like images, charts, code blocks, or videos) that is self-contained and referenced from the main flow of text. The <figcaption> element provides a caption for the figure.

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<figure> <img src="chart.png" alt="Quarterly Sales Chart"> <figcaption> Figure 1. Quarterly sales increased by 15%. </figcaption> </figure>

Benefit: The browser knows that the image and caption are semantically linked.