Editing Blink element (section)

== Usage ==
{{Quote box
| width = 250px
| class = noprint
| quote = {{blink|'''Hello, World!'''}}
| qstyle= font-size: 150%; color: #FF0000;
| source = Example of blinking text (accomplished via CSS; the &lt;blink&gt; tag itself is deprecated and no longer works in most browsers)
}}
The blink element is non-standard, and as such there is no authoritative specification of its syntax or semantics. While [[Bert Bos]] of the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] has produced a [[Document Type Definition]] that includes syntax for the blink element (defining it as a ''phrase element'' on a par with elements for [[emphasis (typography)|emphasis]] and [[citations]]), the comments in the DTD explain that it is intended as a joke.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bos |first=Bert |author-link=Bert Bos |date=1999-11-10 |title=HTML40, but with BLINK added |url=http://www.w3.org/Style/HTML40-plus-blink.dtd |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122040932/https://www.w3.org/Style/HTML40-plus-blink.dtd |archive-date=2023-01-22 |access-date=12 December 2006 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |quote=This is basically just HTML40, but with BLINK added...The BLINK is merely added as a joke.}}</ref>

Syntax of the blink element type is identical to such standard [[HTML]] inline elements as span. For example: {{code|lang=html|code=<blink>This text could blink</blink>}}. The rate of blinking is browser-specific, and the tag contains no parameters or means to adjust the rate of blinking. In versions of [[Mozilla Firefox]] that support the tag, the text alternates between being visible for three quarters of a second and being invisible for one quarter of a second.<ref name="mozilla-corporation">{{cite web |date=2009-07-13 |title=VPAT for Firefox 3.0 and 3.5 |url=http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/vpat.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517030113/http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/vpat.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=23 October 2009 |publisher=[[Mozilla]] |quote="When pages use the HTML &lt;blink&gt; tag, Firefox uses a 1 Hz duty cycle with the text visible for 3/4 of each cycle." }}</ref>

The blink element type was first invented for [[Netscape Navigator]] and was supported in its descendants, such as [[Mozilla Firefox]] (except for the ''[[Netscape 6]]'' and early [[Mozilla Application Suite|Mozilla suite]] browsers—it is thus also absent from [[SeaMonkey]], which descends from Mozilla suite); it was removed from [[Firefox]] in version 23.<ref name="firefox23">{{cite web |date=6 August 2013 |title=Firefox 23 Release Notes |url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/23.0/releasenotes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707093918/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/23.0/releasenotes/ |archive-date=2023-07-07 |access-date=8 August 2013 |publisher=[[Mozilla]] |quote=...Dropped blink effect from text-decoration: blink; and completely removed &lt;blink&gt; element...}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> [[Microsoft]]'s [[Internet Explorer]] and [[WebKit]] (the browser engine behind [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]] and [[Google Chrome]]) never supported it, even in its CSS incarnation. It was also supported by the [[Opera (web browser)|Opera Internet Browser]], but support ended in version 15 when that browser switched to a WebKit-based engine. [[Vivaldi (web browser)|Vivaldi]], despite its roots as a spiritual successor to the [[Presto (browser engine)|Presto]]-based Opera, also does not support a functional blink tag.

[[Netscape (web browser)|Netscape]] only agreed to remove the blink tag from their browser if [[Microsoft]] agreed to get rid of the [[Marquee element|marquee]] tag in theirs during an HTML ERB meeting in February 1996.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Raggett |first1=Dave |author-link=Dave Raggett |last2=Lam |first2=Jenny |last3=Alexander |first3=Ian |last4=Kmiec |first4=Michael |date=1998 |title=Chapter 2 - A history of HTML |url=https://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/book4/ch02.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713020927/https://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/book4/ch02.html |archive-date=13 July 2023 |access-date=2023-07-24 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |quote=The BLINK tag was ousted in an HTML ERB meeting. Netscape would only abolish it if Microsoft agreed to get rid of MARQUEE; the deal was struck and both tags disappeared.}}</ref>

Some software supports the blink element as an [[Easter Egg (media)|easter egg]]. [[Google Search]] blinks parts of the page when one searches for "blink html".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Shankland |first1=Stephen |last2=King |first2=Mary |date=16 April 2022 |title=20 Hidden Google Search Easter Eggs to Hunt For |work=[[CNET]] |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/20-hidden-google-search-easter-eggs-to-hunt-for/ |url-status=live |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527042407/https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/20-hidden-google-search-easter-eggs-to-hunt-for/ |archive-date=27 May 2023 |quote=Type blink HTML into the search box, and you'll get a list of search results where the words "blink" and "HTML" are blinking.}}</ref> [[Android (operating system)|Android]]'s user interface framework supports the blink tag, labeling it as <code>TAG_1995</code> in its source code.<ref>{{Cite web |title=core/java/android/view/LayoutInflater.java - platform/frameworks/base |url=https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/49e7040b926280b8decbeee87b532eb6b55d7e58/core/java/android/view/LayoutInflater.java#146 |access-date=2019-09-20 |website=Google Git |publisher=[[Android Open Source Project]], [[Google]] |quote=146 private static final String TAG_1995 = "blink";}}</ref>