Web/API/EventListener

The EventListener interface represents an object that can handle an event dispatched by an EventTarget object.

Note: Due to the need for compatibility with legacy content, EventListener accepts both a function and an object with a handleEvent() property function. This is shown in the example below.

Properties

This interface neither implements, nor inherits, any properties.

Methods

This interface doesn't inherit any methods.

EventListener.handleEvent()

A function that is called whenever an event of the specified type occurs.

Example

HTML

<button id="btn">Click here!</button>

JavaScript

const buttonElement = document.getElementById('btn');

// Add a handler for the 'click' event by providing a callback function.
// Whenever the element is clicked, a pop-up with "Element clicked!" will
// appear.
buttonElement.addEventListener('click', function (event) {
  alert('Element clicked through function!');
});

// For compatibility, a non-function object with a `handleEvent` property is
// treated just the same as a function itself.
buttonElement.addEventListener('click', {
  handleEvent: function (event) {
    alert('Element clicked through handleEvent property!');
  }
});

See Also:

• addEventListener

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
DOMThe definition of 'EventListener' in that specification.	Living Standard	No change.
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events SpecificationThe definition of 'EventListener' in that specification.	Obsolete	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
EventListener	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 7	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
handleEvent	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 7	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 1	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

EventListener by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.