- From: Steven Pemberton <Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl>
- Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 13:28:34 +0200 (MET DST)
- To: David Shaw <davids@nwi.net>
- Cc: "'www-style'" <www-style@w3.org>
> I know that in HTML4.x Underline <U> is deprecated.
>
> So, I ask you, how would I be expected to underline a word in a
> sentance using CSS? Or an in-line style parameter?
The idea behind using style sheets is to separate content from
presentation. So don't ask yourself "how do I underline?", first ask
"what am I trying to represent?".
If the answer is "defining instances of a word" then code your HTML
like this:
A <span class="define">programmer</span> is a device for
turning coffee into programs.
If you are underlining a sentence because it is important, classify it
that way:
<span class="important">Don't mention the war!</span>
and so on.
Then use those classes in your style sheet:
.important {text-decoration: underline}
.define {text-decoration: underline}
This has a number of advantages:
* If you change your mind about how it should look, you only
have to change one place in your files
* You separate the different uses of underlining so that you
can later distinguish between them
* The sight impaired can still understand what you are trying
to represent in your HTML.
By the way, some people prefer to use <strong> or <em> instead of
<span> since the words then still show up differently on CSS
deficient browsers.
Steven Pemberton
Received on Tuesday, 20 July 1999 07:28:39 UTC