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css property

`font-variant-alternates` CSS property

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The font-variant-alternates CSS property controls the usage of alternate glyphs. These alternate glyphs may be referenced by alternative names defined in @font-feature-values.

The @font-feature-values at-rule can be used to associate, for a given font face, a human-readable name with a numeric index that controls a particular OpenType font feature. For features that select alternative glyphs (stylistic, styleset, character-variant, swash, ornament or annotation), the font-variant-alternates property can then reference the human-readable name in order to apply the associated feature.

This allows CSS rules to enable alternative glyphs without needing to know the specific index values that a particular font uses to control them.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
font-variant-alternates: normal;
font-variant-alternates: historical-forms;

/* Functional notation values */
font-variant-alternates: stylistic(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: styleset(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: character-variant(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: swash(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: ornaments(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: annotation(user-defined-ident);
font-variant-alternates: swash(ident1) annotation(ident2);

/* Global values */
font-variant-alternates: inherit;
font-variant-alternates: initial;
font-variant-alternates: revert;
font-variant-alternates: revert-layer;
font-variant-alternates: unset;

This property may take one of two forms:

  • either the keyword normal
  • or one or more of the other keywords and functions listed below, space-separated, in any order.

Values

  • normal

    • : This keyword deactivates alternate glyphs.

  • historical-forms

    • : This keyword enables historical forms — glyphs that were common in the past but not today. It corresponds to the OpenType value hist.

  • stylistic()

    • : This function enables stylistic alternates for individual characters. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType value salt, like salt 2.

  • styleset()

    • : This function enables stylistic alternatives for sets of characters. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType value ssXY, like ss02.

  • character-variant()

    • : This function enables specific stylistic alternatives for characters. It is similar to styleset(), but doesn’t create coherent glyphs for a set of characters; individual characters will have independent and not necessarily coherent styles. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType value cvXY, like cv02.

  • swash()

    • : This function enables swash glyphs. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType values swsh and cswh, like swsh 2 and cswh 2.

  • ornaments()

    • : This function enables ornaments, like fleurons and other dingbat glyphs. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType value ornm, like ornm 2.

      [!NOTE] In order to preserve text semantics, font designers should include ornaments that don’t match Unicode dingbat characters as ornamental variants of the bullet character (U+2022). Be aware that some existing fonts don’t follow this advice.

  • annotation()

    • : This function enables annotations, like circled digits or inverted characters. The parameter is a font-specific name mapped to a number. It corresponds to the OpenType value nalt, like nalt 2.

Formal definition

Formal syntax

Examples

Enabling swash glyphs

In this example, we use the @font-feature-values at-rule to define a name for the swash feature of the MonteCarlo font. The rule maps the name "fancy" to the index value 1.

We can then use that name inside font-variant-alternates to switch on swashes for that font. This is the equivalent of a line like font-feature-settings: "swsh" 1, except that the CSS applying the feature does not need to include, or even know, the index value needed for this particular font.

HTML

<p>A Fancy Swash</p>
<p class="variant">A Fancy Swash</p>

CSS

@font-face {
  font-family: "MonteCarlo";
  src: url("/shared-assets/fonts/monte-carlo/monte-carlo-regular.woff2");
}

@font-feature-values "MonteCarlo" {
  @swash {
    fancy: 1;
  }
}

p {
  font-family: "MonteCarlo", cursive;
  font-size: 3rem;
  margin: 0.7rem 3rem;
}

.variant {
  font-variant-alternates: swash(fancy);
}

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also