Make Text Bold and Italic in HTML
Using the and tags
The and tags are the simplest way to make text bold and italic, respectively. They are considered “presentation” tags, meaning their primary purpose is to visually change the text, not to give it semantic meaning.
<p>This text is <b>bold</b> and this text is <i>italic</i>.</p>
Output:
This text is bold and this text is italic.
Using the and tags
The and tags are more semantically meaningful than and . They indicate that the enclosed text has a stronger emphasis or is more important than surrounding text.
<p>This text is <strong>strongly emphasized</strong> and this text is <em>emphasized</em>.</p>
Output:
This text is strongly emphasized and this text is emphasized.
Using the and tags together
You can use the and tags together to make text both bold and italic:
<p>This text is <b><i>bold and italic</i></b>.</p>
Output:
This text is bold and italic.
Using CSS
You can also use CSS to style text as bold and italic. This approach gives you more control over the styling and can be more flexible.
<style>
.bold {
font-weight: bold;
}
.italic {
font-style: italic;
}
</style>
<p>This text is <span class="bold">bold</span> and this text is <span class="italic">italic</span>.</p>
Output:
This text is bold and this text is italic.
Comparison Table
| Tag | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Makes text bold. | <b>This is bold text</b> | |
| Makes text italic. | <i>This is italic text</i> | |
| Strong emphasis. | <strong>This text is important</strong> | |
| Emphasis. | <em>This text is emphasized</em> |
Best Practices
- Use the and tags whenever possible for semantic meaning.
- Use and tags only when you need pure presentation formatting without semantic meaning.
- Consider using CSS for more advanced styling and flexibility.
By following these best practices, you can create accessible and semantically meaningful HTML documents.