Mobile Web Wearable Web

CSS Fonts Module (Level 3): Manipulating Fonts

You can change the text fonts easily.

The new text features in CSS Fonts Module Level 3 API include:

  • Font properties

    You can use CSS font properties, such as font-style, font-weight, font-variant, font-size, and font-family, to modify the appearance of text.

Manipulating Fonts

To enhance the user experience of your application, you must learn to handle fonts using CSS font properties:

  1. Define the font-style property within a <style> element in the <head> section of the Web page to apply different font styles:

    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) em{font-style: normal}
      p:nth-child(2) em{font-style: italic}
      p:nth-child(3) em{font-style: oblique}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>font-style: <em>normal</em></p>
   <p>font-style: <em>italic</em></p>
   <p>font-style: <em>oblique</em></p>
</body>

  2. Define the font-weight property, which controls the weight of the text:

    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) {font-weight: normal}
      p:nth-child(2) {font-weight: bold}
      p:nth-child(3) {font-weight: 300}
      p:nth-child(4) {font-weight: 500}
      p:nth-child(5) {font-weight: 700}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>font-weight: <em>normal</em></p>
   <p>font-weight: <em>bold</em></p>
   <p>font-weight: <em>300</em></p>
   <p>font-weight: <em>500</em></p>
   <p>font-weight: <em>700</em></p>
</body>
  3. Define the font-variant property to change the font to, for example, use small capital letters: 
    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) {font-variant: normal}
      p:nth-child(2) {font-variant: small-caps}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>font-variant: <em>normal</em></p>
   <p>font-variant: <em>small-caps</em></p>
</body>
  4. Define the font-size property, which controls the size of the font: 
    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) {font-size: 150%}
      p:nth-child(2) {font-size: 1.2em}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>font-size: <em>150%</em></p>
   <p>font-size: <em>1.2em</em></p>
</body>
</html>
  5. Define the line-height property, which controls the height of a text line: 
    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) {line-height: 1}
      p:nth-child(2) {line-height: 1.5}
      p:nth-child(3) {line-height: 5}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>line-height: <em>1</em></p>
   <p>line-height: <em>1.5</em></p>
   <p>line-height: <em>5</em></p>
</body>
  6. Define the font-family property, which assigns a specific font or its representative to an element. The list order within the <style> element determines the property priority.

    If the assigned font is not installed on the target, a different font is obtained based on the user system.

    <head>
   <style>
      p:nth-child(1) {font-family: serif}
      p:nth-child(2) {font-family: sans-serif}
      p:nth-child(3) {font-family: monospace}
      p:nth-child(4) {font-family: cursive}
      p:nth-child(5) {font-family: fantasy}
      p:nth-child(6) {font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif}
      p:nth-child(7) {font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif}
      p:nth-child(8) {font-family: Verdana, sans-serif}
      p:nth-child(9) {font-family: Arial, sans-serif}
   </style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>font-family: <em>serif</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>sans-serif</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>monospace</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>cursive</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>fantasy</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>'Arial Black', sans-serif</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>Tahoma, sans-serif</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>Verdana, sans-serif</em></p>
   <p>font-family: <em>Arial, sans-serif</em></p>
</body>
</html>

The following figure shows examples of manipulating the text font properties.

Figure: Font properties (in mobile applications only)

Font properties (in mobile applications only)

Note
For a complete list of CSS Fonts Module Level 3 font properties (in mobile or wearable applications) and their possible values, see the Property index.
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