Is it possible to use <a> (anchor tag) without href attribute?

The nchor <a>element is just an anchor, or from some content. Originally, the HTML specification allowed the use of named anchors ( <a name="foo">) and link anchors ( <a href="#foo">).

The named anchor format is less commonly used because fragment identifiers are now used to specify [id]properties (although for backward compatibility you can still specify [name]properties). Elements without attributes still work .<a>[href]

In terms of semantics and style, an <a>element is not a link ( ) unless it :linkhas an [href]attribute . The side effect of this is that by default, elements <a>that don't will not [href]be in tab-sorted order.

The real question is whether the <a>element itself is an appropriate representation <button>. At the semantic level, there is a clear distinction between a linkand a button.

A button is what causes an action to happen when clicked.

A link is a button that causes the navigation in the current document to change. If it is a fragment identifier ( #foo) , the navigation that occurs may be moving within the document ; if it is a URL ( /bar) , the navigation that occurs may be moving to a new document .

Because links are a special type of button, their actions are often rewritten to perform other functions. Continuing to use anchors for buttons is fine from a consistency standpoint, although not quite semantically accurate yet.

If you are concerned about the semantics and accessibility of using an <a>element (or <span>, or <div>) as a button , you should add the following attributes:

<a role="button" tabindex="0" ...>...</a>

The button's action tells the user that this particular element is to be treated as a button as the underlying element for any semantics may have an overlay for that user.

For <span>and <div>elements, you may want to add JavaScript key listeners Spaceor Enterfire the clickevent. <a href>and <button>elements do this by default, but non-button elements do not. Sometimes it makes more sense to bind clicktriggers to other keys . For example, a "Help" button in a web application might be bound to F1.