There appears to be quite some confusion between web developers the difference between the tags and . To clear up this confusion let me explain the difference as best I can. The HYPERLINK “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/text.html” W3C describes the two as:
- ABBR – Indicates an abbreviated form (e.g., WWW, HTTP, URI, Mass., etc.).
- ACRONYM – Indicates an acronym (e.g., WAC, radar, etc.).
Perhaps not the clearest description known to man.
In Layman’s terms the difference lies in the way the term is pronounced. An abbreviation represents a term spoken in individual characters, such as H.T.M.L (”haych-tee-em-el”). An acronym however, is a term spoken as it is spelt, such as DOM. DOM stands for Document Object Model, and is pronounced “dom”, not “D.O.M” (”dee-ooh-em”).
We all love Internet Explorer 6
Sadly there is one other thing that separates from . Internet Explorer does not recognise the tag. Now why the IE team chose to not include this feature is beyond my guesswork. However it is something we as web designers have to take into account to understand exactly how our scripts will be rendered and understood. I personally use the tag anyway. Whilst is still standards compliant I feel that is a more correct usage. In addition to this, the lack of IE support for this tag does not affect the final outcome of the document in IE, it is simply ignored.