You might see <bdo> Element reference while reading someone else’s HTML, or need it while building a page of your own. Instead of memorizing a definition, look at a working example and see when the element makes sense.
The Idea in Plain English
Overrides the display direction of its contents. Use it when direction must be forced, not as a normal text-alignment trick.
For a reference page, pay attention to where the element is allowed, whether it needs a closing tag, and what other elements it can contain.
A Working Example
Read the sample once before copying it. Notice the element names and attribute values, then compare them with the explanation below.
<p><bdo dir="rtl">ABC 123</bdo></p>What Each Part Does
- The bdo element explicitly overrides writing direction.
- A paragraph keeps one idea together as readable text.
The text is displayed using an explicit right-to-left ordering.
Try It Yourself
Try replacing the example content with your own while keeping the valid HTML structure.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Applying bdo to entire multilingual paragraphs instead of using dir or bdi as needed.
- Changing several parts of the example at once, making it difficult to see which part caused a different result.
- Choosing a tag only because its default appearance looks right, without checking whether it describes the content correctly.
Key Takeaways
- Overrides the display direction of its contents. Use it when direction must be forced, not as a normal text-alignment trick.
- The text is displayed using an explicit right-to-left ordering.
- Test the markup in a browser, and check accessibility and real-world behavior where relevant.