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The All-In-One
Almost-Alphabetical
Guide to
Detecting Everything

(Confused? Read Detecting HTML5 Features for a conceptual introduction. Want an all-in-one library instead? Try Modernizr.)

<audio>
return !!document.createElement('audio').canPlayType;
<audio> in MP3 format
var a = document.createElement('audio');
return !!(a.canPlayType && a.canPlayType('audio/mpeg;').replace(/no/, ''));
<audio> in Vorbis format
var a = document.createElement('audio');
return !!(a.canPlayType && a.canPlayType('audio/ogg; codecs="vorbis"').replace(/no/, ''));
<audio> in WAV format
var a = document.createElement('audio');
return !!(a.canPlayType && a.canPlayType('audio/wav; codecs="1"').replace(/no/, ''));
<audio> in AAC format
var a = document.createElement('audio');
return !!(a.canPlayType && a.canPlayType('audio/mp4; codecs="mp4a.40.2"').replace(/no/, ''));
<canvas>
return !!document.createElement('canvas').getContext;
<canvas> text API
var c = document.createElement('canvas');
return c.getContext && typeof c.getContext('2d').fillText == 'function';
<command>
return 'type' in document.createElement('command');
<datalist>
return 'options' in document.createElement('datalist');
<details>
return 'open' in document.createElement('details');
<form> constraint validation
return 'noValidate' in document.createElement('form');
<iframe sandbox>
return 'sandbox' in document.createElement('iframe');
<iframe srcdoc>
return 'srcdoc' in document.createElement('iframe');
<input autofocus>
return 'autofocus' in document.createElement('input');
<input placeholder>
return 'placeholder' in document.createElement('input');
<textarea placeholder>
return 'placeholder' in document.createElement('textarea');
<input type="color">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'color');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="email">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'email');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="number">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'number');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="range">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'range');
return i.type !== 'text';
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'search');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="tel">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'tel');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="url">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'url');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="date">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'date');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="time">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'time');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="datetime">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'datetime');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="datetime-local">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'datetime-local');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="month">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'month');
return i.type !== 'text';
<input type="week">
var i = document.createElement('input');
i.setAttribute('type', 'week');
return i.type !== 'text';
<meter>
return 'value' in document.createElement('meter');
<output>
return 'value' in document.createElement('output');
<progress>
return 'value' in document.createElement('progress');
<time>
return 'datetime' in document.createElement('time');
<video>
return !!document.createElement('video').canPlayType;
<video> captions
return 'src' in document.createElement('track');
<video poster>
return 'poster' in document.createElement('video');
<video> in WebM format
var v = document.createElement('video');
return !!(v.canPlayType && v.canPlayType('video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"').replace(/no/, ''));
<video> in H.264 format
var v = document.createElement('video');
return !!(v.canPlayType && v.canPlayType('video/mp4; codecs="avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2"').replace(/no/, ''));
<video> in Theora format
var v = document.createElement('video');
return !!(v.canPlayType && v.canPlayType('video/ogg; codecs="theora"').replace(/no/, ''));
contentEditable
return 'isContentEditable' in document.createElement('span');
Cross-document messaging
return !!window.postMessage;
Drag-and-drop
return 'draggable' in document.createElement('span');
File API
return typeof FileReader != 'undefined';
Geolocation
return !!navigator.geolocation;
History
return !!(window.history && window.history.pushState);
Local storage
try {
  return 'localStorage' in window && window['localStorage'] !== null;
} catch(e) {
  return false;
}
Microdata
return !!document.getItems;
Offline web applications
return !!window.applicationCache;
Server-sent events
return typeof EventSource !== 'undefined';
Session storage
try {
  return 'sessionStorage' in window && window['sessionStorage'] !== null;
} catch(e) {
  return false;
}
SVG
return !!(document.createElementNS && document.createElementNS('http://www.w3.org/2000/svg', 'svg').createSVGRect);
SVG in text/html
var e = document.createElement('div');
e.innerHTML = '<svg></svg>';
return !!(window.SVGSVGElement && e.firstChild instanceof window.SVGSVGElement);
Undo
return typeof UndoManager !== 'undefined';
IndexedDB
return !!window.indexedDB;
Web Sockets
return !!window.WebSocket;
Web SQL Database
return !!window.openDatabase;
Web Workers
return !!window.Worker;
Widgets: am I in one?
return typeof widget !== 'undefined';
XMLHttpRequest: cross-domain requests
return "withCredentials" in new XMLHttpRequest;
XMLHttpRequest: send as form data
return !!window.FormData;
XMLHttpRequest: upload progress events
return "upload" in new XMLHttpRequest;

Further Reading

Specifications and standards:

JavaScript libraries:

This has been “The All-In-One Almost-Alphabetical Guide to Detecting Everything.” The full table of contents has more if you’d like to keep reading.

Did You Know?

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Copyright MMIX–MMXI Mark Pilgrim