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 text-orientation CSS property defines the orientation of the text characters in a line. This property only has an effect in vertical mode, that is, when writing-mode is not horizontal-tb. It is useful for controlling the display of languages that use vertical script, and also for making vertical table headers.
/* Keyword values */ text-orientation: mixed; text-orientation: upright; text-orientation: sideways-right; text-orientation: sideways; text-orientation: use-glyph-orientation; /* Global values */ text-orientation: inherit; text-orientation: initial; text-orientation: unset;
| Initial value | mixed |
|---|---|
| Applies to | all elements, except table row groups, rows, column groups, and columns |
| Inherited | yes |
| Media | visual |
| Computed value | as specified |
| Animation type | discrete |
| Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Syntax
The text-orientation property is specified as a single keyword from the list below.
Values
mixed- Rotates the characters of horizontal scripts 90°. Lays out the characters of vertical scripts naturally. Default value.
upright- Lays out the characters of horizontal scripts naturally (upright), as well as the glyphs for vertical scripts. Note that this keyword causes all characters to be considered as left-to-right: the used value of
directionis forced to beltr. sideways- Causes characters to be laid out as if they were laid out horizontally, but with the whole line rotated 90° to the right if
writing-modeisvertical-rl, or to the left if it isvertical-lr. sideways-right- An alias to
sidewaysthat is kept for compatibility purposes. use-glyph-orientation- On SVG elements, this keyword leads to use the value of the deprecated SVG properties
glyph-orientation-verticalandglyph-orientation-horizontal.
Formal syntax
mixed | upright | sideways
Examples
HTML
<p>Lorem ipsum dolet semper quisquam.</p>
CSS
p {
writing-mode: vertical-rl;
text-orientation: upright;
}
Result
Specification
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3 The definition of 'text-orientation' in that specification. |
Candidate Recommendation | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) -webkit 48.0 (unprefixed) |
41 (41)[1] | No support | (Yes) -webkit | No support |
sideways |
No support | 44 (44)[2] | No support | No support | No support |
| Feature | Android | Android Webview | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | No support | 48.0 | 48.0 | 41.0 (41)[1] | No support | No support | No support |
sideways |
No support | No support | No support | 44.0 (44)[2] | No support | No support | No support |
[1] Available since Gecko 38 (Firefox 38.0 / Thunderbird 38.0 / SeaMonkey 2.35), but behind the preference layout.css.vertical-text.enabled, then set to false by default. The preference has been removed in Gecko 51 (Firefox 51.0 / Thunderbird 51.0 / SeaMonkey 2.48) and this property cannot be disabled anymore since this version.
[2] sideways-right has been made an alias of sideways.
See also
- The other vertical-script related CSS properties:
writing-mode,text-combine-upright, andunicode-bidi.