Hrefabout

Hrefabout is a term used in discussions of web semantics to describe a hypothetical hyperlink convention in which a link explicitly references an “about” resource that provides metadata or contextual information about the linked target. The term blends the HTML href attribute, which specifies a destination, with the concept of an associated document that describes the resource.

There is currently no standard hrefabout attribute or protocol. Implementations would rely on existing web technologies, such as using the href to point to a primary resource while providing metadata about that resource through established mechanisms like rel="describedby" or via JSON-LD. Some proposals imagine a dedicated hrefabout attribute or a microformat, but none have been formalized by standards bodies such as WHATWG or W3C.

Usage patterns in practice are exploratory and rely on existing structures. A site might map a resource to its about page using link relations or data attributes to signal intent to clients and crawlers. Conceptual examples include: <a href="https://example.org/resource" data-hrefabout="https://example.org/about">About this resource</a> or using a descriptive link: <link rel="describedby" href="https://example.org/about.json">. The goal is to improve discovery, accessibility, and machine readability of contextual information around a resource.

Rationale and limitations: advocates argue that hrefabout could make contextual data more discoverable and reusable, while critics point to potential fragmentation, duplication, and the lack of a standardized specification. Until a formal standard emerges, hrefabout remains an informal concept used in design discussions rather than a defined web protocol.

See also: href, about page, link relation types, describedby, semantic web.