normalize.css

What is normalize.css?

The npm package normalize.css is a modern, HTML5-ready alternative to CSS resets. It makes browsers render all elements more consistently and in line with modern standards by precisely targeting only the styles that need normalizing.

What are normalize.css's main functionalities?

HTML Element Normalization

Ensures consistent line height and prevents font size adjustments after device orientation changes.

/*! normalize.css v8.0.1 | MIT License | github.com/necolas/normalize.css */

/* Document
   ========================================================================== */
/**
 * 1. Correct the line height in all browsers.
 * 2. Prevent adjustments of font size after orientation changes in iOS.
 */
html {
  line-height: 1.15; /* 1 */
  -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; /* 2 */
}

Section and Article Styles

Removes default margins from the body and ensures the 'main' element is displayed consistently across browsers.

/* Sections
   ========================================================================== */
/**
 * Remove the margin in all browsers.
 */
body {
  margin: 0;
}

/**
 * Render the 'main' element consistently in IE.
 */
main {
  display: block;
}

Text-Level Semantics

Adjusts box sizing and border color inheritance in Firefox for elements like <hr>.

/* Grouping content
   ========================================================================== */
/**
 * Add the correct box sizing in Firefox.
 * Correct the inheritance of border color in Firefox. (Bug 688556)
 */
hr {
  box-sizing: content-box; /* 1 */
  height: 0; /* 1 */
  overflow: visible; /* 2 */
}

Other packages similar to normalize.css

reset-css

Similar to normalize.css, reset-css is an npm package that provides CSS reset styles. It differs in that it aims to strip all default browser styling on elements, whereas normalize.css aims to make these styles consistent across browsers without removing as much of the default styling.

sanitize.css

sanitize.css is another CSS normalization library that not only normalizes styles but also corrects bugs and common browser inconsistencies. It is similar to normalize.css but includes more opinionated defaults that enforce better usability.

README

normalize.css v3

Normalize.css is a customisable CSS file that makes browsers render all elements more consistently and in line with modern standards.

The project relies on researching the differences between default browser styles in order to precisely target only the styles that need or benefit from normalizing.

View the test file

Install

• npm: npm install --save normalize.css
• Component(1): component install necolas/normalize.css
• Bower: bower install --save normalize.css
• cdnjs
• Download.

No other styles should come before Normalize.css.

It is recommended that you include the normalize.css file as untouched library code.

What does it do?

• Preserves useful defaults, unlike many CSS resets.
• Normalizes styles for a wide range of elements.
• Corrects bugs and common browser inconsistencies.
• Improves usability with subtle improvements.
• Explains what code does using detailed comments.

Browser support

• Google Chrome (latest)
• Mozilla Firefox (latest)
• Mozilla Firefox ESR
• Opera (latest)
• Apple Safari 6+
• Internet Explorer 8+

Normalize.css v1 provides legacy browser support (IE 6+, Safari 4+), but is no longer actively developed.

Extended details

Additional detail and explanation of the esoteric parts of normalize.css.

pre, code, kbd, samp

The font-family: monospace, monospace hack fixes the inheritance and scaling of font-size for preformated text. The duplication of monospace is intentional. Source.

sub, sup

Normally, using sub or sup affects the line-box height of text in all browsers. Source.

svg:not(:root)

Adding overflow: hidden fixes IE9's SVG rendering. Earlier versions of IE don't support SVG, so we can safely use the :not() and :root selectors that modern browsers use in the default UA stylesheets to apply this style. SVG Mailing List discussion

input[type="search"]

The search input is not fully stylable by default. In Chrome and Safari on OSX/iOS you can't control font, padding, border, or background. In Chrome and Safari on Windows you can't control border properly. It will apply border-width but will only show a border color (which cannot be controlled) for the outer 1px of that border. Applying -webkit-appearance: textfield addresses these issues without removing the benefits of search inputs (e.g. showing past searches).

legend

Adding border: 0 corrects an IE 8–11 bug where color (yes, color) is not inherited by legend.

Contributing

Please read the CONTRIBUTING.md

Acknowledgements

Normalize.css is a project by Nicolas Gallagher, co-created with Jonathan Neal.

Changelog

3.0.3 (March 30, 2015)

• Remove unnecessary vendor prefixes.
• Add main property.