initial-letter-align

This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

The initial-letter-align CSS property specifies the alignment of initial letters within a paragraph.

/* Keyword values */
initial-letter-align: auto;
initial-letter-align: alphabetic;
initial-letter-align: hanging;
initial-letter-align: ideographic;
/* Global values */
initial-letter-align: inherit;
initial-letter-align: initial;
initial-letter-align: unset;

Initial valueauto
Applies to::first-letter pseudo-elements and inline-level first child of a block container
Inheritedno
Mediavisual
Computed valueas specified
Animation typediscrete
Canonical orderthe unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

One of the keyword values listed below.

Values

auto
The user agent selects the value which corresponds to the language of the text. Western languages would default to alphabetic, CJK languages to ideographic, and some Indic languages to hanging.
alphabetic
As described above, the cap height of the initial letter aligns with the cap height of the first line of text. The baseline of the initial letter aligns with the baseline of the Nth text baseline.
hanging
The hanging baseline of the initial letter aligns with the hanging baseline of the first line of text.
ideographic
The initial letter is centered in the N-line area.

Formal syntax

[ auto | alphabetic | hanging | ideographic ]

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Inline Layout
The definition of 'initial-letter-align' in that specification.
Working Draft Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support No support No support No support No support No support
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support No support No support No support No support No support

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: mfluehr, wbamberg, Sebastianz, kscarfone
 Last updated by: mfluehr,