HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
are hidden in browsers that support the
ruby
,
rt
, and
rp
elements, but will be visible in browsers that
don't recognize these elements. Each single parenthesis should be enclosed in an
rp
element, with the
rt
element in between, as you see in Listing 4-40.
Listing 4-40.
The
rp
element hides
ruby
parentheses from supporting browsers
<p lang="zh">
<ruby>
旧
<rp> (</rp>
<rt>jiù</rt>
<rp>) </rp>
金
<rp> (</rp>
<rt>j
ī
n</rt>
<rp>) </rp>
山
<rp> (</rp>
<rt>sh
ā
n</rt>
<rp>) </rp>
</ruby>
</p>
In browsers that don't recognize these elements and/or apply no default styling, the annotations will simply
appear inline after the base text they reference, just as if the ruby elements weren't present at all (see
Figure 4-28).
Figure 4-28.
Ruby text as rendered by a browser that doesn't recognize the
rt
or
rp
elements
For even more information on when, how, and why to use ruby text, along with more examples of practical
usage, see Oli Studholme's indispensible article at HTML5 Doctor,
The
ruby
Element and Her Hawt
Friends,
rt
and
rp
(
html5doctor.com/ruby-rt-rp-element/
)
Required Attributes
The
ruby
,
rt
, and
rp
elements don't have any required attributes.
Optional Attributes
There aren't any optional attributes for the
ruby
,
rt
, or
rp
elements.
The term “ruby text” is old British typesetter's jargon referring to very small type, roughly
5.5 points, which was often used for between-the-lines annotations. Why they called this
particular type size “ruby” is a mystery lost to time. Other sizes of type had names like
diamond, pearl, brilliant, great primer, and paragon. Those old printers were an odd
bunch.
Bidirectional Text: bdi and bdo
Written languages are read either from left to right (like English, Spanish, German, Malay, or Hindi) or from
right to left (like Arabic, Persian, or Hebrew). Documents written predominantly in one language may still
