XHTML: Placing DIVs in A tags

Question

Is it alright to place div tags inside anchor tags? Will contents of the div redirect the page to the href of the anchor tag?

Answer 1

Is it alright to place div tags inside anchor tags?

Yes, if:

1. You are using HTML5/XHTML5; and
2. The anchor tag is not in an inline context. i.e. a descendant of an element that only allows phrasing content.

Otherwise no.

In HTML5/XHTML5 the <a> element in not simply an inline element as it is in HTML4/XHTML1. Instead it has a transparent content model, which means that the validation rules for its content are the same as if it wasn't there.

So for example

<div>
   <div>Hello World</div>
</div>

is valid, so

<div>
   <a href="#">
      <div>Hello World</div>
   </a>
</div>

is too.

But

<p>
   <div>Hello World</div>
</p>

is not valid, so

<p>
   <a href="#">
      <div>Hello World</div>
   </a>
</p>

isn't either.