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Browser Features and Behavior
Issue 2.2 April 2005 129
Physical Style
Physical tags are effectively the opposite of content-based tags. The text in a physical tag might
have no meaning whatsoever, outside what the designer intended. These tags show text in a
distinct style. Physical tags usually affect font style.
Each physical style tag is shown with a brief description and any physical effects the browser
imposes.
● <b> indicates that the text appears in a bold font weight.
● <big> indicates that the text appears one point size larger than the current text.
● <i> indicates that the text appears in an italic font.
● <small> indicates that the text appears one point size smaller than the current text.
● <sub> indicates that the text appears as a subscript to the current text. The text is shown
one point size smaller.
● <sup> indicates that the text appears as a superscript to the current text. The text is shown
one point size smaller.
● <tt> indicates that the text appears as teletype text. The text is shown in a monospaced
typeface font.
Physical Spacing and Layout
Physical spacing and layout tags define the basic structure of a document. Headings,
paragraphs, tables and lists all provide some basic physical and logical layout to a page.
Each spacing and layout tag is shown with a brief description, and any unusual behavior is
described.
● <p> indicates the start of a new paragraph. A blank line is inserted between previous text
and text following the <p> tag.
● <br> indicates to insert a breakpoint. A newline is inserted between previous text and text
following the <br> tag.
● <pre> indicates no formatting rules apply to the text that follows. This implies that no
wrapping will be applied to this text, which can result in adding a horizontal scrollbar to
view the text.
● <hr> indicates that a newline and a horizontal rule line should be inserted between the
previous text and text following the <hr> tag.
● <blockquote> indicates that the following text is a quote, and should be offset in some way.
The embedded text is shown with newlines before and after the text, with spacing to the
left and right. Within that “block” of text, normal wrapping rules apply.