Font Elements
The font element—an
inline element used to specify the size, color, and font face for the
enclosed text using the size,
color, and face attributes, respectively—is the poster
child for what went wrong with HTML. It was first introduced by Netscape
Navigator as a means to give authors control over font formatting not
available with HTML at the time (and for good reason). Netscape was
rewarded with a temporary slew of loyal users, but the HTML standard and
web development community paid a steep price in the long run.
Another deprecated font-related element, basefont, is used to set the font face, color,
and size for an entire document when it is in the head of the document or for subsequent text
when it is placed in the body.
The font element is
emphatically deprecated, and you will be ridiculed by your peers for
using it. I’m not kidding. Don’t use it. For the sake of historical
reference and thoroughness in documenting the HTML and XHTML
Transitional DTDs, it is included in this chapter with some basic
explanation.
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