Typo.css is a CSS reset and typography stylesheet optimized for Chinese-language web content.
The tool addresses the problem that browser typography defaults do not suit Chinese reading well, particularly regarding font weight, line height, CJK line breaking, spacing between Chinese and Western characters, and punctuation compression. It provides a clean reset that removes default styling from elements like lists, then applies Chinese-optimized typography through a `.typo` class applied to content containers. For reading-focused pages, adding `.typo` enables font choices, line heights, and spacing tuned for Chinese text. The stylesheet also supports traditional Chinese variants through language attributes and offers helper classes for specific typography needs such as `.typo-justify` for justified text, `.typo-vertical` for vertical writing, and `.typo-zhuyin` for ruby annotations.
Projects should adopt this tool when building Chinese-language websites that prioritize readability. It suits content-heavy pages like articles and documentation where typography directly affects user experience. The approach differs from normalize.css by keeping element styling minimal by default, requiring explicit class application rather than pre-styling all elements, which avoids the need to override unwanted default styles. The stylesheet includes utilities for Chinese typographic conventions like emphasis marks, proper names underlines, and serif font choices, alongside standard helpers like clearfix and text wrapping controls.
Development activity shows sustained engagement with the project's core mission. The repository includes automated tests covering modern Chinese typography contracts, ensuring that typography features remain reliable across changes. Documentation is maintained in dedicated files covering both the design rationale for modern Chinese web typography and a library evolution plan that tracks research into comparable solutions and planned upgrades. The project provides a demo site showing the typography in practice, supporting developers in understanding how the stylesheet affects actual content rendering.
