HTML <form> accept-charset Attribute

Last Updated : 17 Apr, 2025

The HTML <form> accept-charset attribute defines which character encoding the form will use when submitting data.

By default, the accept-charset attribute is set to 'UNKNOWN,' using the same encoding as the document.
It ensures the correct encoding when the form is submitted, especially for non-ASCII characters.
It can be set to values like 'UTF-8' to specify a specific character encoding.

Syntax

<form accept-charset = "character_set">

The accept-charset attribute specifies the character encoding for form submission, with common values like UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1.

HTML

<html> <body> <form action="/submit" method="post" accept-charset="UTF-8"> <label for="name">Name:</label> <input type="text" id="name" name="name"> <input type="submit" value="Submit"> </form> </body> </html>

More Examples of HTML Form Accept

Basic Form with UTF-8 Encoding

html

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <form action="/submit" method="post" accept-charset="UTF-8"> <label for="email">Email:</label> <input type="email" id="email" name="email"> <input type="submit" value="Submit"> </form> </body> </html>

The form specifies accept-charset="UTF-8", ensuring that any special characters (e.g., accents or non-ASCII letters) are correctly submitted.
This encoding type is commonly used for supporting a wide range of characters.

Form with Multiple Encodings

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <form action="/submit" method="post" accept-charset="UTF-8"> <label for="email">Email:</label> <input type="email" id="email" name="email"> <input type="submit" value="Submit"> </form> </body> </html>

The accept-charset="UTF-8, ISO-8859-1" allows the form to accept either encoding, depending on the browser's default or user preference.
This flexibility ensures compatibility with a broader range of devices and languages.

Best Practices for Using the <form> accept-charset Attribute

Set explicit encoding for internationalization: Always define an encoding like UTF-8 to ensure compatibility with different languages and characters, especially if the form handles non-ASCII input.
Ensure consistency across forms: If your site uses multiple forms, set the accept-charset attribute consistently across all forms to avoid any unexpected character encoding issues.
Avoid unnecessary attribute values: Only use accept-charset when necessary, and avoid including multiple encoding types unless you have specific requirements.