[CSS3 Text] word-space-symbol Property

Greetings,

I'm writing to suggest an additional property for the CSS3 Text
Effects Module:

Name: word-space-symbol
Value         : space | nb-space | aegean | ethiopic | ideographic | tibetan | ugaritic | &entity;
Initial       : space
Inherited     : yes
Percentages   : N/A
Media         : visual
Computed value: specified value

This property sets the symbol to display for a space character after
other spacing rules have been applied.


The justification that I can offer for this request comes from Ethiopic
practices where a printed word space is used historically.  In the
present day some readers white space while others prefer the printed
space (U+1361).  Some may like the word space on screen, but prefer
white space for printing to save toner.  The capability to toggle the
word space on or off as per a reader's preference (javascript interacting
with css, or through a display agent's options) solves a problem for
both reader and HTML authors trying to satisfy both styles of presentation.

In other cases the word space is more laborious to type (depending on
the input method) and authors who might have used it opted for the easier
to type option.  The capability to set the space value automatically after
typing would be helpful here.  

I assume that the preference logic follows likewise for readers of
other scripts having a printed word space.

Another justification would be as a visual aid for proofreading.  For
example MS Word (and I assume other editors) uses Middle Dot (U+00B7)
to indicate where a space would occur in a document when unprinted
symbols are revealed (toggled with the paragraph symbol icon).  To
mimic this, the word-space-property would be set to "·".


Also... an issue relevant to ethiopic wordspace and line breaking
rules is that the space symbol is legal and expected at the end of
line.

thanks,

/Daniel

Received on Saturday, 17 September 2005 05:05:05 UTC