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Cascading Style Sheets ((CSS)
is a style
sheet language used
for describing the look
and formatting of
a document written in a mark-up
language.
While most often used to style web
pages and interfaces written
in HTML and XHTML,
the language can be applied to any kind of XML document,
including plain
XML, SVG
and XUL.
CSS
is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content from
document presentation, including elements such as the layout,
colors,
and
fonts.[1] This
separation can improve content accessibility,
provide more flexibility and control in the specification of
presentation characteristics, enable multiple pages to share formatting,
and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content (such as
by allowing for table
less web design).
CSS
can also allow the same mark-up page to be presented in different styles
for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice
(when read out by a speech-based browser or screen
reader)
and on Braille-based,
tactile devices. It can also be used to allow the web page to display
differently depending on the screen size or device on which it is being
viewed. While the author of a document typically links that document to
a CSS
file, readers can use a different style sheet, perhaps one on their own
computer, to override the one the author has specified. However if the
author or the reader did not link the document to a specific style sheet
the default style of the browser will be applied.
CSS
specifies a priority scheme to determine which style rules apply if more
than one rule matches against a particular element. In this so-called cascade,
priorities or weights are
calculated and assigned to rules, so that the results are predictable.
The
CSS
specifications are maintained by the World
Wide Web Consortium
(W3C). Internet media type (MIME
type))text
cuss is
registered for use with
CSS
by RFC
2318 (March
1998), and they also operate a free CSS
validation service.
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