HTMLFormulare

HTMLFormulare are the mechanisms in the HTML standard for collecting user input and transmitting it to a server or other endpoint. In English, these are called HTML forms. The term may appear in German-language documentation as a direct rendering of "HTML forms".

The core is the form element, which groups controls such as input, select, textarea, and button. Each control uses a name attribute to contribute data to the submission, and a label associates text with the control for accessibility. Common controls include input (with various types), select, textarea, and button.

The form element exposes attributes such as action, method, and enctype. The action specifies the destination URL; method is GET or POST; enctype is application/x-www-form-urlencoded by default, or multipart/form-data for file uploads, or text/plain in special cases. Additional attributes include autocomplete, target, and novalidate.

Validation can be performed client-side via constraint validation using attributes like required, type, pattern, min, and max. HTML5 introduced new input types (email, url, date, etc.) and enhanced accessibility practices with labels, fieldsets, legends, and ARIA when needed.

Security and data handling considerations include using HTTPS, server-side validation and sanitization, and CSRF protection. JavaScript can intercept form submission and send data with Fetch or FormData, supporting dynamic web applications while maintaining a graceful fallback for non-JS environments.