W3C I18N Techniques: Authoring XHTML & HTML

Do not use CSS styling to control directionality in XHTML/HTML. Use markup.

Only use bidi markup where it is needed.

Add dir="rtl" to the html tag any time the overall document direction is right-to-left.

Do not add dir="rtl" to the body tag.

Use logical order, not visual ordering for Hebrew.

If using an ISO character encoding for Hebrew, choose iso-8859-8-i and use logical ordering.

Creating (X)HTML Pages in Arabic & Hebrew

W3C tutorial.

General use of bidi markup

W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.

Basic setup for pages in RTL scripts

W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text

(X)HTML & bidi formatting codes vs. markup

To correctly format bidi text in (X)HTML pages, should I use Unicode control codes or markup? W3C FAQ-based article.

CSS vs. markup for bidi support

Should I use CSS or markup to correctly format Unicode-based bidirectional (bidi) text in HTML and XML-based markup languages? W3C FAQ-based article.

Add the dir attribute to a block level element (only) to change its directionality.

Changing block direction

How to use the dir attribute. Handling tables. In W3C tutorial, Creating (X)HTML Pages in Arabic & Hebrew.

Changing the directionality of a block element

W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.

Use a Unicode right-to-left mark (RLM) or left-to-right mark (LRM) to make neutral characters such as punctuation and spaces appear in the right place when they fall between different directional runs.

Use a Unicode right-to-left mark (RLM) or left-to-right mark (LRM) to correctly order separate runs of same direction text separated by neutral characters such as punctuation and spaces.

Use the dir attribute on an inline element to resolve problems with nested directional runs.

For attribute text or element text that allows no internal markup, use Unicode control characters for bidirectional control.

Do not use Unicode control characters for bidirectional control if markup is available.

Do not leave white space at the end of inline elements that mark a directional boundary.

What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup

W3C article.

Mixing text direction inline

In W3C tutorial, Creating (X)HTML Pages in Arabic & Hebrew.

Mixing text direction inline

W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.

Treat mirrored characters as if any word left in the name meant 'opening', and right meant 'closing'.

Mirrored characters

In W3C tutorial, Creating (X)HTML Pages in Arabic & Hebrew.

Handling parentheses & other mirrored characters

In W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.

Use the bdo element to force the directionality of a sequence of inline characters.

Overriding the bidi algorithm

In W3C tutorial, Creating (X)HTML Pages in Arabic & Hebrew.

Overriding the Unicode bidirectional algorithm

In W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.

Overriding the algorithm

In W3C article, What you need to know about the bidi algorithm and inline markup.

Whenever possible, avoid HTML attributes with values of right and left. Use CSS in a linked stylesheet instead.

Enabling easy localization for RTL scripts

In W3C best practises document, Handling Bidirectional Text.