- HTML Character Sets
- Example
- HTML Character Sets
- In the Beginning: ASCII
- In Windows: Windows-1252
- In HTML 4: ISO-8859-1
- Example
- Example
- Example
- In HTML5: Unicode UTF-8
- Example
- Example
- HTML Encoding (Character Sets)
- From ASCII to UTF-8
- The HTML charset Attribute
- Differences Between Character Sets
- The ASCII Character Set
- The ANSI Character Set (Windows-1252)
- The ISO-8859-1 Character Set
- The UTF-8 Character Set
HTML Character Sets
To display an HTML page correctly, the browser must know what character set (encoding) to use:
Example
HTML Character Sets
The HTML5 specification encourages web developers to use the UTF-8 character set!
This has not always been the case. The character encoding for the early web was ASCII.
Later, from HTML 2.0 to HTML 4.01, ISO-8859-1 was considered as the standard character set.
With XML and HTML5, UTF-8 finally arrived and solved a lot of character encoding problems.
In the Beginning: ASCII
Computer data is stored as binary codes (01000101) in the electronics.
To standardize the storing of text, the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) was created. It defined a unique binary number for each storable character to support the numbers from 0-9, the upper and lower case alphabet (a-z, A-Z), and special characters like ! $ + — ( ) @ < >, .
Since ASCII used 7 bits for the character, it could only represent 128 different characters.
The biggest weakness with ASCII, was that it excluded non English letters.
ASCII is still in use today, especially in large mainframe computer systems.
For a closer look, please study our Complete ASCII Reference.
In Windows: Windows-1252
Windows-1252 was the default character set in Windows, up to Windows 95.
It is an extension to ASCII, with added international characters.
It uses a full byte (8-bits) to represent 256 different characters.
Since Windows-1252 has been the default in Windows, it is supported by all browsers.
In HTML 4: ISO-8859-1
The character set most often used in HTML 4 was ISO-8859-1.
ISO-8859-1 is an extension to ASCII, with added international characters.
Example
In HTML 4, a character set different from ISO-8859-1 can be specified in the tag:
Example
All HTML 4 processors also support UTF-8:
Example
When a browser detects ISO-8859-1 it normally defaults to Windows-1252, because Windows-1252 has 32 more international characters.
In HTML5: Unicode UTF-8
The HTML5 specification encourages web developers to use the UTF-8 character set.
Example
A character-set different from UTF-8 can be specified in the tag:
Example
The Unicode Consortium developed the UTF-8 and UTF-16 standards, because the ISO-8859 character-sets are limited, and not compatible a multilingual environment.
The Unicode Standard covers (almost) all the characters, punctuations, and symbols in the world.
All HTML5 and XML processors support UTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1252, and ISO-8859.
HTML Encoding (Character Sets)
To display an HTML page correctly, a web browser must know which character set to use.
From ASCII to UTF-8
ASCII was the first character encoding standard. ASCII defined 128 different characters that could be used on the internet: numbers (0-9), English letters (A-Z), and some special characters like ! $ + — ( ) @ < >.
ISO-8859-1 was the default character set for HTML 4. This character set supported 256 different character codes. HTML 4 also supported UTF-8.
ANSI (Windows-1252) was the original Windows character set. ANSI is identical to ISO-8859-1, except that ANSI has 32 extra characters.
The HTML5 specification encourages web developers to use the UTF-8 character set, which covers almost all of the characters and symbols in the world!
The HTML charset Attribute
To display an HTML page correctly, a web browser must know the character set used in the page.
This is specified in the tag:
Differences Between Character Sets
The following table displays the differences between the character sets described above:
Numb | ASCII | ANSI | 8859 | UTF-8 | Description | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
32 | space | |||||
33 | ! | ! | ! | ! | exclamation mark | |
34 | « | « | « | « | quotation mark | |
35 | # | # | # | # | number sign | |
36 | $ | $ | $ | $ | dollar sign | |
37 | % | % | % | % | percent sign | |
38 | & | & | & | & | ampersand | |
39 | ‘ | ‘ | ‘ | ‘ | apostrophe | |
40 | ( | ( | ( | ( | left parenthesis | |
41 | ) | ) | ) | ) | right parenthesis | |
42 | * | * | * | * | asterisk | |
43 | + | + | + | + | plus sign | |
44 | , | , | , | , | comma | |
45 | — | — | — | — | hyphen-minus | |
46 | . | . | . | . | full stop | |
47 | / | / | / | / | solidus | |
48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | digit zero | |
49 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | digit one | |
50 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | digit two | |
51 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | digit three | |
52 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | digit four | |
53 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | digit five | |
54 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | digit six | |
55 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | digit seven | |
56 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | digit eight | |
57 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | digit nine | |
58 | : | : | : | : | colon | |
59 | ; | ; | ; | ; | semicolon | |
60 | less-than sign | |||||
61 | = | = | = | = | equals sign | |
62 | > | > | > | > | greater-than sign | |
63 | ? | ? | ? | ? | question mark | |
64 | @ | @ | @ | @ | commercial at | |
65 | A | A | A | A | Latin capital letter A | |
66 | B | B | B | B | Latin capital letter B | |
67 | C | C | C | C | Latin capital letter C | |
68 | D | D | D | D | Latin capital letter D | |
69 | E | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E | |
70 | F | F | F | F | Latin capital letter F | |
71 | G | G | G | G | Latin capital letter G | |
72 | H | H | H | H | Latin capital letter H | |
73 | I | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I | |
74 | J | J | J | J | Latin capital letter J | |
75 | K | K | K | K | Latin capital letter K | |
76 | L | L | L | L | Latin capital letter L | |
77 | M | M | M | M | Latin capital letter M | |
78 | N | N | N | N | Latin capital letter N | |
79 | O | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O | |
80 | P | P | P | P | Latin capital letter P | |
81 | Q | Q | Q | Q | Latin capital letter Q | |
82 | R | R | R | R | Latin capital letter R | |
83 | S | S | S | S | Latin capital letter S | |
84 | T | T | T | T | Latin capital letter T | |
85 | U | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U | |
86 | V | V | V | V | Latin capital letter V | |
87 | W | W | W | W | Latin capital letter W | |
88 | X | X | X | X | Latin capital letter X | |
89 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Latin capital letter Y | |
90 | Z | Z | Z | Z | Latin capital letter Z | |
91 | [ | [ | [ | [ | left square bracket | |
92 | \ | \ | \ | \ | reverse solidus | |
93 | ] | ] | ] | ] | right square bracket | |
94 | ^ | ^ | ^ | ^ | circumflex accent | |
95 | _ | _ | _ | _ | low line | |
96 | ` | ` | ` | ` | grave accent | |
97 | a | a | a | a | Latin small letter a | |
98 | b | b | b | b | Latin small letter b | |
99 | c | c | c | c | Latin small letter c | |
100 | d | d | d | d | Latin small letter d | |
101 | e | e | e | e | Latin small letter e | |
102 | f | f | f | f | Latin small letter f | |
103 | g | g | g | g | Latin small letter g | |
104 | h | h | h | h | Latin small letter h | |
105 | i | i | i | i | Latin small letter i | |
106 | j | j | j | j | Latin small letter j | |
107 | k | k | k | k | Latin small letter k | |
108 | l | l | l | l | Latin small letter l | |
109 | m | m | m | m | Latin small letter m | |
110 | n | n | n | n | Latin small letter n | |
111 | o | o | o | o | Latin small letter o | |
112 | p | p | p | p | Latin small letter p | |
113 | q | q | q | q | Latin small letter q | |
114 | r | r | r | r | Latin small letter r | |
115 | s | s | s | s | Latin small letter s | |
116 | t | t | t | t | Latin small letter t | |
117 | u | u | u | u | Latin small letter u | |
118 | v | v | v | v | Latin small letter v | |
119 | w | w | w | w | Latin small letter w | |
120 | x | x | x | x | Latin small letter x | |
121 | y | y | y | y | Latin small letter y | |
122 | z | z | z | z | Latin small letter z | |
123 | } | } | } | right curly bracket | ||
126 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | tilde | |
127 | DEL | |||||
128 | | euro sign | ||||
129 | | | | NOT USED | ||
130 | | single low-9 quotation mark | ||||
131 | | Latin small letter f with hook | ||||
132 | | double low-9 quotation mark | ||||
133 | horizontal ellipsis | |||||
134 | | dagger | ||||
135 | | double dagger | ||||
136 | | modifier letter circumflex accent | ||||
137 | | per mille sign | ||||
138 | | Latin capital letter S with caron | ||||
139 | | single left-pointing angle quotation mark | ||||
140 | | Latin capital ligature OE | ||||
141 | | | | NOT USED | ||
142 | | Latin capital letter Z with caron | ||||
143 | | | | NOT USED | ||
144 | | | | NOT USED | ||
145 | | left single quotation mark | ||||
146 | | right single quotation mark | ||||
147 | | left double quotation mark | ||||
148 | | right double quotation mark | ||||
149 | | bullet | ||||
150 | | en dash | ||||
151 | | em dash | ||||
152 | | small tilde | ||||
153 | | trade mark sign | ||||
154 | | Latin small letter s with caron | ||||
155 | | single right-pointing angle quotation mark | ||||
156 | | Latin small ligature oe | ||||
157 | | | | NOT USED | ||
158 | | Latin small letter z with caron | ||||
159 | | Latin capital letter Y with diaeresis | ||||
160 | no-break space | |||||
161 | ¡ | ¡ | ¡ | inverted exclamation mark | ||
162 | ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | cent sign | ||
163 | £ | £ | £ | pound sign | ||
164 | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | currency sign | ||
165 | ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | yen sign | ||
166 | ¦ | ¦ | ¦ | broken bar | ||
167 | § | § | § | section sign | ||
168 | ¨ | ¨ | ¨ | diaeresis | ||
169 | © | © | © | copyright sign | ||
170 | ª | ª | ª | feminine ordinal indicator | ||
171 | « | « | « | left-pointing double angle quotation mark | ||
172 | ¬ | ¬ | ¬ | not sign | ||
173 | | | | soft hyphen | ||
174 | ® | ® | ® | registered sign | ||
175 | ¯ | ¯ | ¯ | macron | ||
176 | ° | ° | ° | degree sign | ||
177 | ± | ± | ± | plus-minus sign | ||
178 | ² | ² | ² | superscript two | ||
179 | ³ | ³ | ³ | superscript three | ||
180 | ´ | ´ | ´ | acute accent | ||
181 | µ | µ | µ | micro sign | ||
182 | ¶ | ¶ | ¶ | pilcrow sign | ||
183 | · | · | · | middle dot | ||
184 | ¸ | ¸ | ¸ | cedilla | ||
185 | ¹ | ¹ | ¹ | superscript one | ||
186 | º | º | º | masculine ordinal indicator | ||
187 | » | » | » | right-pointing double angle quotation mark | ||
188 | ¼ | ¼ | ¼ | vulgar fraction one quarter | ||
189 | ½ | ½ | ½ | vulgar fraction one half | ||
190 | ¾ | ¾ | ¾ | vulgar fraction three quarters | ||
191 | ¿ | ¿ | ¿ | inverted question mark | ||
192 | À | À | À | Latin capital letter A with grave | ||
193 | Á | Á | Á | Latin capital letter A with acute | ||
194 | Â | Â | Â | Latin capital letter A with circumflex | ||
195 | Ã | Ã | Ã | Latin capital letter A with tilde | ||
196 | Ä | Ä | Ä | Latin capital letter A with diaeresis | ||
197 | Å | Å | Å | Latin capital letter A with ring above | ||
198 | Æ | Æ | Æ | Latin capital letter AE | ||
199 | Ç | Ç | Ç | Latin capital letter C with cedilla | ||
200 | È | È | È | Latin capital letter E with grave | ||
201 | É | É | É | Latin capital letter E with acute | ||
202 | Ê | Ê | Ê | Latin capital letter E with circumflex | ||
203 | Ë | Ë | Ë | Latin capital letter E with diaeresis | ||
204 | Ì | Ì | Ì | Latin capital letter I with grave | ||
205 | Í | Í | Í | Latin capital letter I with acute | ||
206 | Î | Î | Î | Latin capital letter I with circumflex | ||
207 | Ï | Ï | Ï | Latin capital letter I with diaeresis | ||
208 | Ð | Ð | Ð | Latin capital letter Eth | ||
209 | Ñ | Ñ | Ñ | Latin capital letter N with tilde | ||
210 | Ò | Ò | Ò | Latin capital letter O with grave | ||
211 | Ó | Ó | Ó | Latin capital letter O with acute | ||
212 | Ô | Ô | Ô | Latin capital letter O with circumflex | ||
213 | Õ | Õ | Õ | Latin capital letter O with tilde | ||
214 | Ö | Ö | Ö | Latin capital letter O with diaeresis | ||
215 | × | × | × | multiplication sign | ||
216 | Ø | Ø | Ø | Latin capital letter O with stroke | ||
217 | Ù | Ù | Ù | Latin capital letter U with grave | ||
218 | Ú | Ú | Ú | Latin capital letter U with acute | ||
219 | Û | Û | Û | Latin capital letter U with circumflex | ||
220 | Ü | Ü | Ü | Latin capital letter U with diaeresis | ||
221 | Ý | Ý | Ý | Latin capital letter Y with acute | ||
222 | Þ | Þ | Þ | Latin capital letter Thorn | ||
223 | ß | ß | ß | Latin small letter sharp s | ||
224 | à | à | à | Latin small letter a with grave | ||
225 | á | á | á | Latin small letter a with acute | ||
226 | â | â | â | Latin small letter a with circumflex | ||
227 | ã | ã | ã | Latin small letter a with tilde | ||
228 | ä | ä | ä | Latin small letter a with diaeresis | ||
229 | å | å | å | Latin small letter a with ring above | ||
230 | æ | æ | æ | Latin small letter ae | ||
231 | ç | ç | ç | Latin small letter c with cedilla | ||
232 | è | è | è | Latin small letter e with grave | ||
233 | é | é | é | Latin small letter e with acute | ||
234 | ê | ê | ê | Latin small letter e with circumflex | ||
235 | ë | ë | ë | Latin small letter e with diaeresis | ||
236 | ì | ì | ì | Latin small letter i with grave | ||
237 | í | í | í | Latin small letter i with acute | ||
238 | î | î | î | Latin small letter i with circumflex | ||
239 | ï | ï | ï | Latin small letter i with diaeresis | ||
240 | ð | ð | ð | Latin small letter eth | ||
241 | ñ | ñ | ñ | Latin small letter n with tilde | ||
242 | ò | ò | ò | Latin small letter o with grave | ||
243 | ó | ó | ó | Latin small letter o with acute | ||
244 | ô | ô | ô | Latin small letter o with circumflex | ||
245 | õ | õ | õ | Latin small letter o with tilde | ||
246 | ö | ö | ö | Latin small letter o with diaeresis | ||
247 | ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | division sign | ||
248 | ø | ø | ø | Latin small letter o with stroke | ||
249 | ù | ù | ù | Latin small letter u with grave | ||
250 | ú | ú | ú | Latin small letter u with acute | ||
251 | û | û | û | Latin small letter with circumflex | ||
252 | ü | ü | ü | Latin small letter u with diaeresis | ||
253 | ý | ý | ý | Latin small letter y with acute | ||
254 | þ | þ | þ | Latin small letter thorn | ||
255 | ÿ | ÿ | ÿ | Latin small letter y with diaeresis |
The ASCII Character Set
ASCII uses the values from 0 to 31 (and 127) for control characters.
ASCII uses the values from 32 to 126 for letters, digits, and symbols.
ASCII does not use the values from 128 to 255.
The ANSI Character Set (Windows-1252)
ANSI is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
ANSI has a proprietary set of characters for the values from 128 to 159.
ANSI is identical to UTF-8 for the values from 160 to 255.
The ISO-8859-1 Character Set
ISO-8859-1 is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
ISO-8859-1 does not use the values from 128 to 159.
ISO-8859-1 is identical to UTF-8 for the values from 160 to 255.
The UTF-8 Character Set
UTF-8 is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
UTF-8 does not use the values from 128 to 159.
UTF-8 is identical to both ANSI and 8859-1 for the values from 160 to 255.
UTF-8 continues from the value 256 with more than 10 000 different characters.