Chapter 6 Web Typography

Chapter 6Web Typography

Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 6

Principles of Web Design Chapter 6

Objectives

• Understand principles for type design on a Web site

• Control typography with the <font> element

• Control typography with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

• Understand the basics of CSS and its selection techniques

Objectives

• Specify CSS font properties and block-level space values

• Build a style sheet

Type Design Principles

• Choose fewer fonts and sizes• Choose available fonts• Design for legibility• Avoid using text as graphics

• Figure 6-1

• Figure 6-2

• Table 6-1

• Figure 6-3

Using the <font> Element

• Use <font> to set font size and color and to specify font substitution

• With HTML 4.0, the <font> tag has been deprecated in favor of CSS. To ensure forward compatibility, you should consider moving to CSS, and limit or replace the <font> element in your code.

• Figure 6-4

Using Cascading Style Sheets

• Cascading style sheets offer much greater control over type characteristics than does the <font> element

• You can use standard type conventions, such as using point or pixel sizes, setting leading, and specifying indents and alignment

• Style rules are composed of two parts: a selector and a declaration

• The selector determines the element to which the rule is applied

• The declaration details the exact property values

• Figure 6-5

• The declaration contains a property and a value

• The property is a quality or characteristic • The precise specification of the property is

contained in the value • CSS includes over 50 different properties,

each with a specific number of values

• Figure 6-6

CSS Selection Techniques

• Select single elements• Select multiple elements• Select by context• Select with the CLASS attribute

Selecting Single Elements

The following rule selects the H1 element:

Selecting Multiple Elements

The following rule selects the H1 and H2 elements:

Selecting by ContextA context-based selector lets you specify the exact context in which a style is applied. To specify that <I> elements appear blue only within <H1> elements, use the following rule:

Selecting with the CLASS Attribute

• The class attribute lets you write rules and then apply them to groups of elements that you have classified

• To create a class, declare it within the <style> element first. The period (.) flag character indicates that the selector is a class selector.

• Figure 6-7

Working with the <div> Element

• The <div> element lets you specify logical divisions within a document that have their own name and style properties

• <div> is a block-level element. It contains a leading and trailing carriage return.

• You can use <div> with the class attribute to create customized block-level elements

To create a division, declare it within the <style> element first. The following example specifies a division named intro as the selector for the rule:

Next, specify the <div> element in the document. Then use the CLASS attribute to specify the exact type of division. In the following example, the code defines the <div> element as the special class named “INTRO.”

Working with the <span> Element

• The <span> element lets you specify inline elements within a document that have their own name and style properties

• Inline elements go within the line of text, like the <b> element

To create a span, declare it within the <style> element first. The following example specifies a <span> element named “logo” as the selector for the rule:

Next, specify the <span> element in the document. Then use the class attribute to specify the exact type of span. In the following example, the code defines the <span> element as the special class named “logo.”

Welcome to the <span class=“logo”>Wonder Software</span> Web site.

CSS Font Properties

• Font families and alternates• Font size• Font weight• Line height• Letter spacing• Text indent• Color

CSS Measurement Values

• CSS offers a variety of measurement units, almost to the point of offering too many choices

• For example, to specify font size, you can use any of the measurement units listed in the following table

• Table 6-2

Building Scalable PagesThe relative measurement values such as em and px are designed to let you build scalable Web pages that adapt to different display types and sizes. The W3C recommends that you always use relative values.

Specifying Font Size

The following rule sets the <blockquote> element to 1.5em Arial:

blockquote {font-family: arial; font-size: 1.5em;}

• Figure 6-8

Specifying Font Weight

The following rule shows the addition of the font-weight property to the rule:

blockquote {font-family: arial; font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold;}

• Figure 6-9

Specifying Line HeightCSS allows you to specify either a percentage or absolute value for the line height, which is more commonly called leading. The following rule sets the line height to 30 points:

blockquote {font-family: arial; font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 30pt;}

• Figure 6-10

Specifying Letter SpacingTo adjust kerning, the printer’s term for adjusting the white space between letters, use the letter spacing property. The following rule sets the letter spacing to 2 points:

blockquote {font-family: arial font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 30pt; letter-spacing: 2pt;}

• Figure 6-11

Specifying Text IndentUse the text indent property to set the amount of indentation for the first line of text in an element, such as a paragraph. The following rule sets an indent of 24 points:

blockquote {font-family: arial font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 30pt; letter-spacing: 2pt; text-indent: 24pt;}

• Figure 6-12

Specifying Background ColorsYou can set the background color—the color behind the text—for any element. Use the following syntax:

h2 {color: white; background-color: black;}

• Figure 6-13

Specifying Block-Level SpacingCascading Style Sheets allow you to specify property values for the space around block-level elements. There are three properties you can set:

• Padding: The area between the text and border• Border: The border separates the padding and

margin• Margin: The area outside the border

• Figure 6-14

Building a Style Sheet

In this section, you’ll see how to set up a style sheet for a document using a variety of font properties. Let’s say that your job is to develop an online library of public-domain texts. You would want to set up a style sheet that you could apply to all the documents in the collection.

Building a Style Sheet

In this example, the content is the first chapter from Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Figure 6-15 shows the page marked up with standard HTML.

• Figure 6-15

Setting up Document Divisions

• To set up a style sheet, start by determining the logical divisions for the document

• Each division will have its own unique type characteristics that can be stated as style rules

• Figure 6-16 shows the document divisions you could use for this type of document

• Figure 6-16

Standard Paragraph Stylep {

font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;

font-size: .85em; line-height: 26px; margin-left: 20px;margin-right: 20px;}

• Figure 6-17

Chapter Number Stylediv.chapnumber {

font-size: 2em; line-height: 48px; font-weight: bold margin: 20px; background-color: gray; color: white}

• Figure 6-18

Chapter Title Stylediv.chaptitle {

font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 40px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 4pxmargin-left: 20px;}

• Figure 6-19

Credit Stylediv.credit {

text-align: right; font-size: .85em; border-bottom: solid 1px;

line-height: 26px; margin-left: 20px}

• Figure 6-20

Summary• Use type to communicate information

structure. Be sparing with your type choices, and use fonts consistently.

• Remember that HTML text downloads faster than graphics-based text. Use HTML text whenever possible.

• Use browser-safe fonts that will display as consistently as possible across operating systems

Summary• Limit use of the <font> element because it is

deprecated in HTML 4.0• Experiment with Cascading Style Sheets

(CSS) and consider implementing them. Once you experience the results of this easy-to-use language, you’ll have a hard time going back to relying on the <font> element.

Summary• If you use CSS, standardize your styles by

building external style sheets and linking multiple documents to them

• Test your work! Different browsers and computing platforms render text in different sizes.

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