<CAPTION>NN all   IE all   HTML 3.2
<CAPTION>...</CAPTION>End Tag: Required
 

A CAPTION element may be placed only inside a TABLE element (and immediately after the <TABLE> start tag) to denote the text to be used as a caption for the table. A caption applies to the entire table, whereas a table heading (TH element) applies to a single column or row of the table. Only one CAPTION element is recognized within a TABLE element.

A table caption is usually a brief description of the table. A longer description may be written for the SUMMARY attribute of a TABLE element for browsers that use text-to-speech technology for users who cannot see browsers. The primary distinguishing attribute of the CAPTION element is ALIGN, which lets you define where the caption appears in relation to the actual table.

 
Example 
<TABLE ...>
<CAPTION CLASS="tableCaptions">
    Table 3-2. Sample Inverse Framistan Values
</CAPTION>
...
</TABLE>
 
Object Model Reference
IE [window.]document.all.elementID
ALIGNNN all   IE all   HTML 3.2
ALIGN="where"Optional
 

Determines how the caption is rendered in physical relation to the table. Not all versions of all browsers support the full range of possibilities for this attribute. Only top and bottom are universal among all supporting browsers.

Browsers typically render a caption above or below a table in the running body font (unless modified by tag or style sheet) and centered horizontally on the table. If the caption is wider than the table, text is wrapped to the next line, maintaining center justification.

The ALIGN attribute is deprecated in HTML 4.0 in favor of the text-align: and vertical-align: style sheet attribute.

 
Example 
<CAPTION ALIGN="top">Table II. Stock List</CAPTION>
 
Value
Each browser and the HTML 4.0 specification define different sets of values for this attribute. Select the one(s) from the following table that work for your deployment:
Value NN 4 IE 4 HTML 4.0 
bottom
 		* * * 
center
 		- * - 
left
 		- * * 
right
 		- * * 
top
 		* * *
Moreover, IE 4 and HTML 4.0 disagree on the intention of the left and right values. In IE 4, the captions are always at the top or bottom of the table (see the VALIGN attribute), but the text is right-, center-, or left-aligned in those positions. HTML 4.0 speaks of left and right as meaning positioning the entire caption to the left or right of the table. If Internet Explorer were to adopt the HTML 4.0 specification in a future version, it could break the layout of existing table captions.
 
Default top (in IE 4, center if VALIGN attribute is also set).
 
Object Model Reference
IE [window.]document.all.elementID.align
VALIGNNN n/a   IE 3   HTML n/a
VALIGN="where"Optional
 

The VALIGN attribute was Internet Explorer's early attribute for placing a table caption above or below the table. Although this attribute is now a part of the ALIGN attribute, IE's special way of handling left, center, and right values of the ALIGN attribute give VALIGN something to do. For example, you can use VALIGN to set the caption below the table, and use ALIGN="right" to right-align the caption at the bottom. This combination is not possible with the HTML 4.0 attribute. The VALIGN attribute is in IE 4 for backward compatibility, if for no other reason.

 
Example 
<CAPTION ALIGN="right" VALIGN="bottom">Table 3-2. Fiber Content.</CAPTION>
 
Value
Two possible case-insensitive values: bottom | top.
 
Default top
 
Object Model Reference
IE [window.]document.all.elementID.valign
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