Style Sheets Language Features
The first version of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) did not include any mechanisms for dealing with anything but standard western, left-to-right languages.
CSS Level 2 introduced a few controls that specifically address multilingualism.
- Directionality
The
direction
andunicode-bidi
properties in CSS 2 allow authors to specify text direction, similar to thedir
andbdo
elements in HTML.- Quotation marks
The
quotes
property is used to specify quotation marks appropriate to the current language of the text. Generated quotation marks are discussed in Chapter 23.
CSS Level 3 addresses advanced foreign language attributes such as detailed specification of international numbering schemes, vertical text, and language-based text justification. International numbering schemes are published in the CSS 3 Lists Module (http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-lists/). Text effects that accommodate internationalization efforts are published in the CSS 3 Text Effects Module (http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/).
CSS 3 also includes a module for dealing with Ruby text . Ruby text is a run of text that appears alongside another run of text (the base). It serves as an annotation or pronunciation guide, as in the case of phonetic Japanese characters that run above the pictorial kanji symbols to aid readers who do not understand the symbols. More information can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-ruby/.
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