Letter and word spacing: the 'letter-spacing' and 'word-spacing' properties

'letter-spacing'
Value: normal | | inherit
Initial: normal
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: yes
Percentages: N/A
Media: visual

This property specifies spacing behavior between text characters. Values have the following meanings:

normal
The spacing is the normal spacing for the current font. This value allows the user agent to alter the space between characters in order to justify text.
">
This value indicates inter-character space in addition to the default space between characters. Values may be negative, but there may be implementation-specific limits. User agents may not further increase or decrease the inter-character space in order to justify text.

Character spacing algorithms are user agent-dependent. Character spacing may also be influenced by justification (see the 'text-align' property).

Example(s):

In this example, the space between characters in BLOCKQUOTE elements is increased by '0.1em'.

BLOCKQUOTE { letter-spacing: 0.1em }

In the following example, the user agent is not permitted to alter inter-character space:

BLOCKQUOTE { letter-spacing: 0cm }   /* Same as '0' */

When the resultant space between two characters is not the same as the default space, user agents should not use ligatures.

Conforming user agents may consider the value of the 'letter-spacing' property to be 'normal'.

'word-spacing'
Value: normal | | inherit
Initial: normal
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: yes
Percentages: N/A
Media: visual

This property specifies spacing behavior between words. Values have the following meanings:

normal
The normal inter-word space, as defined by the current font and/or the UA.
">
This value indicates inter-word space in addition to the default space between words. Values may be negative, but there may be implementation-specific limits.

Word spacing algorithms are user agent-dependent. Word spacing is also influenced by justification (see the 'text-align' property).

Example(s):

In this example, the word-spacing between each word in H1 elements is increased by '1em'.

H1 { word-spacing: 1em }

Conforming user agents may consider the value of the 'word-spacing' property to be 'normal'.