HTML&CSS · December 20, 2023

Css Basic: font-variant-east-asian

CSS Basic: font-variant-east-asian

In the world of web design, CSS plays a crucial role in determining the visual appearance of a website. One of the many CSS properties that can be used to enhance the typography of a webpage is font-variant-east-asian. This property allows web developers to control how East Asian characters are displayed, providing better readability and aesthetics for websites targeting audiences in East Asia.

Understanding East Asian Typography

East Asian languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, have unique characteristics that differentiate them from Western languages. These languages often use a combination of ideographic characters, known as Han characters, along with phonetic characters. The complexity of East Asian typography lies in the balance between these two types of characters.

When displaying East Asian text on a webpage, it is important to consider the legibility and visual harmony of the characters. This is where the font-variant-east-asian property comes into play.

The font-variant-east-asian Property

The font-variant-east-asian property is a CSS property that allows web developers to control the appearance of East Asian characters. It has several possible values:

  • normal: This is the default value, which renders East Asian characters using the browser's default settings.
  • ruby: This value is used to display East Asian characters with ruby annotations, which are small text annotations often used to provide pronunciation or translation hints.
  • jis78: This value is used to display East Asian characters using the JIS X 0208-1978 character set, which is an older standard used in Japan.
  • jis83: This value is used to display East Asian characters using the JIS X 0208-1983 character set, which is a newer standard used in Japan.
  • jis90: This value is used to display East Asian characters using the JIS X 0208-1990 character set, which is another standard used in Japan.
  • jis04: This value is used to display East Asian characters using the JIS X 0213:2004 character set, which is the most recent standard used in Japan.

By using the font-variant-east-asian property, web developers can ensure that East Asian characters are displayed correctly and in a visually pleasing manner.

Examples

Let's take a look at some examples to better understand how the font-variant-east-asian property works:

p {
  font-variant-east-asian: ruby;
}

In this example, the ruby value is used to display East Asian characters with ruby annotations.

p {
  font-variant-east-asian: jis04;
}

In this example, the jis04 value is used to display East Asian characters using the JIS X 0213:2004 character set.

Conclusion

The font-variant-east-asian property is a valuable tool for web developers who want to enhance the typography of their websites targeting East Asian audiences. By understanding the unique characteristics of East Asian languages and using the appropriate values for this property, web developers can ensure that their websites are visually appealing and easy to read for users in East Asia.

Summary

In conclusion, the font-variant-east-asian property in CSS allows web developers to control the appearance of East Asian characters on their websites. By using values such as ruby or different JIS character sets, developers can enhance the legibility and visual harmony of East Asian typography. To learn more about VPS hosting solutions for your website, visit Server.HK.

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