Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Presentational Elements

There are a handful of (X)HTML elements that are explicitly presentation oriented. Sometimes called “physical” styles, they provide instructions for the size, weight, or style of the font used to display the element.

If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that Cascading Style Sheets are now the preferred way to specify presentation instructions. Table 10-2 lists the presentational inline elements, along with the preferred alternative for achieving the same visual effect.

Table 10-2. Presentational inline elements and style sheet alternatives

Element	Description	Alternative
b	Bold	Use the strong element instead if appropriate, or use the font-weight property: font-weight: bold
big	Big	Use a relative font-size keyword to make text display slightly larger than the surrounding text: font-size: bigger
i	Italic	Use the em element instead if appropriate, or use the font-style property: font-style: italic
s (deprecated)	Strike-through	Use the text-decoration property to make text display with a line through it: text-decoration: line-through
small	Small	Use a relative font-size keyword to make text display slightly smaller than the surrounding text: font-size: smaller
strike (deprecated)	Strike-through	Use the text-decoration property to make text display with a line through it: text-decoration: line-through
tt	Teletype	Use the font-family property to select a specific or generic fixed-width font: font-family: "Andale ...