<i>
Mark text in an alternative voice: technical term, inner thought
<i> — The alternative voice
The <i> element represents a passage in a different voice or mood from the surrounding text: a technical term, an inner thought, a foreign proper name, a taxonomic designation. It does not mean "italics".
When to use it
You want to mark a technical term in non-technical prose, a character's inner thought, a ship name, or a foreign-language expression when no other semantic element fits. For emphasis, use <em>. For a creative work, use <cite>.
What you gain
Accessibility: screen readers do not change intonation for <i>. However, if you add lang on the <i> (foreign term), the screen reader switches to the correct pronunciation. It is the lang attribute doing the work, not the element.
Code example
<p>The <i>USS Enterprise</i> was launched in 1961.</p>
<p>She thought, <i>this changes everything</i>, and walked away.</p>
<p>The <i lang="la">Homo sapiens</i> species has existed for 300,000 years.</p>Further reading
<span>— the inline container (for simple language switches)<cite>— the work reference- WHATWG —
<i> - W3C — WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
- MDN —
<i>