Media Queries Level 5

1. Introduction

This section is not normative.

In 1997, HTML4 [HTML401] defined a mechanism to support media-dependent style sheets, tailored for different media types. For example, a document may use different style sheets for screen and for print. In HTML, this can be written as:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="style.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" href="print.css">

CSS adapted and extended this functionality with its @media and @import rules, adding the ability to query the value of individual features:

@media screen {
  * { font-family: sans-serif }
}

@import "print-styles.css" print;

Media queries can be used with HTML, XHTML, XML [xml-stylesheet] and the @import and @media rules of CSS.

<link media="screen and (color), projection and (color)"
      rel="stylesheet" href="example.css">

<link media="screen and (color), projection and (color)"
      rel="stylesheet" href="example.css" />

<?xml-stylesheet media="screen and (color), projection and (color)"
                 rel="stylesheet" href="example.css" ?>

@import url(example.css) screen and (color), projection and (color);

@media screen and (color), projection and (color) { … }

1.1. Module interactions

This module extends and supersedes [MEDIAQUERIES-4] and its predecessor [MEDIAQUERIES-3], which themselves built upon and replaced Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 1 (CSS 2.1) Specification § media#q7.0.

1.2. Values

Value types not defined in this specification, such as <integer>, <number> or <resolution>, are defined in [CSS-VALUES-4]. Other CSS modules may expand the definitions of these value types.

1.3. Units

The units used in media queries are the same as in other parts of CSS, as defined in [CSS-VALUES-4]. For example, the pixel unit represents CSS pixels and not physical pixels.

Relative length units in media queries are based on the initial value, which means that units are never based on results of declarations.

Note: For example, in HTML, the em unit is relative to the initial value of font-size, defined by the user agent or the user’s preferences, not any styling on the page. Note that this will also take into account additional restrictions the user might apply, such as minimum font sizes.

1.4. Prefers-* Media Features Security and Privacy

2. Media Queries

A media query is a method of testing certain aspects of the user agent or device that the document is being displayed in. Media queries are (almost) always independent of the contents of the document, its styling, or any other internal aspect; they’re only dependent on “external” information unless another feature explicitly specifies that it affects the resolution of Media Queries.

The syntax of a media query consists of an optional media query modifier, an optional media type, and zero or more media features:

A media query is a logical expression that is either true or false. A media query is true if:

• the media type, if specified, matches the media type of the device where the user agent is running, and

• the media condition is true.

Statements regarding media queries in this section assume the syntax section is followed. Media queries that do not conform to the syntax are discussed in § 3.2 Error Handling. I.e. the syntax takes precedence over requirements in this section.

<link rel="stylesheet" media="screen and (color)" href="example.css" />

@import url(example.css) screen and (color);

User agents must re-evaluate media queries in response to changes in the user environment that they’re aware of, for example if the device is tiled from landscape to portrait orientation, and change the behavior of any constructs dependent on those media queries accordingly.

Unless another feature explicitly specifies that it affects the resolution of Media Queries, it is never necessary to apply a style sheet in order to evaluate expressions.

2.1. Combining Media Queries

Several media queries can be combined into a comma-separated media query list.

A media query list is true if any of its component media queries are true, and false only if all of its component media queries are false.

@media screen and (color), projection and (color) { … }

An empty media query list evaluates to true.

@media all { … }
@media { … }

2.2. Media Query Modifiers

A media query may optionally be prefixed by a single media query modifier, which is a single keyword which alters the meaning of the following media query.

2.2.1. Negating a Media Query: the not keyword

An individual media query can have its result negated by prefixing it with the keyword not. If the media query would normally evaluate to true, prefixing it with not makes it evaluate to false, and vice versa.

<link rel="stylesheet" media="not screen and (color)" href="example.css" />

2.2.2. Hiding a Media Query From Legacy user agents: the only keyword

The concept of media queries originates from HTML4 [HTML401]. That specification only defined media types, but had a forward-compatible syntax that accommodated the addition of future concepts like media features: it would consume the characters of a media query up to the first non-alphanumeric character, and interpret that as a media type, ignoring the rest. For example, the media query screen and (color) would be truncated to just screen.

Unfortunately, this means that legacy user agents using this error-handling behavior will ignore any media features in a media query, even if they’re far more important than the media type in the query. This can result in styles accidentally being applied in inappropriate situations.

To hide these media queries from legacy user agents, the media query can be prefixed with the keyword only. The only keyword has no effect on the media query’s result, but will cause the media query to be parsed by legacy user agents as specifying the unknown media type “only”, and thus be ignored.

<link rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (color)" href="example.css" />

Note: Note that the only keyword can only be used before a media type. A media query consisting only of media features, or one with another media query modifier like not, will be treated as false by legacy user agents automatically.

Note: At the time of publishing this specification, such legacy user agents are extremely rare, and so using the only modifier is rarely, if ever, necessary.

2.3. Media Types

A media type is a broad category of user-agent devices on which a document may be displayed. The original set of media types were defined in HTML4, for the media attribute on <link> elements.

Unfortunately, media types have proven insufficient as a way of discriminating between devices with different styling needs. Some categories which were originally quite distinct, such as screen and handheld, have blended significantly in the years since their invention. Others, such as tty or tv, expose useful differences from the norm of a full-featured computer monitor, and so are potentially useful to target with different styling, but the definition of media types as mutually exclusive makes it difficult to use them in a reasonable manner; instead, their exclusive aspects are better expressed as media features such as grid or scan.

As such, the following media types are defined for use in media queries:

all

Matches all devices.

print

Matches printers, and devices intended to reproduce a printed display, such as a web browser showing a document in “Print Preview”.

screen

Matches all devices that aren’t matched by print.

In addition, the following deprecated media types are defined. Authors must not use these media types; instead, it is recommended that they select appropriate media features that better represent the aspect of the device that they are attempting to style against.

User agents must recognize the following media types as valid, but must make them match nothing.

• tty
• tv
• projection
• handheld
• braille
• embossed
• aural
• speech

Note: It is expected that all of the media types will also be deprecated in time, as appropriate media features are defined which capture their important differences.

2.4. Media Features

A media feature is a more fine-grained test than media types, testing a single, specific feature of the user agent or display device.

Syntactically, media features resemble CSS properties: they consist of a feature name, a colon, and a value to test for. They may also be written in boolean form as just a feature name, or in range form with a comparison operator.

There are, however, several important differences between properties and media features:

• Properties are used to give information about how to present a document. Media features are used to describe requirements of the output device.
• Media features are always wrapped in parentheses and combined with the and or or keywords, like (color) and (min-width: 600px), rather than being separated with semicolons.
• A media feature may be given with only its name (omitting the colon and value) to evaluate the feature in a boolean context. This is a convenient shorthand for features that have a reasonable value representing 0 or “none”. For example, (color) is true if the color media feature is non-zero.
• Media features with “range” type can be written in a range context, which uses standard mathematical comparison operators rather than a colon, or have their feature names prefixed with “min-” or “max-”.
• Properties sometimes accept complex values, e.g., calculations that involve several other values. Media features only accept single values: one keyword, one number, etc.

If a media feature references a concept which does not exist on the device where the UA is running (for example, speech UAs do not have a concept of “width”), the media feature must always evaluate to false.

<link media="speech and (device-aspect-ratio: 16/9)"
      rel="stylesheet" href="example.css">

2.4.1. Media Feature Types: “range” and “discrete”

Every media feature defines its “type” as either “range” or “discrete” in its definition table.

“Discrete” media features, like pointer take their values from a set. The values may be keywords or boolean numbers (0 and 1), but the common factor is that there’s no intrinsic “order” to them—​none of the values are “less than” or “greater than” each other.

“Range” media features like width, on the other hand, take their values from a range. Any two values can be compared to see which is lesser and which is greater.

The only significant difference between the two types is that “range” media features can be evaluated in a range context and accept “min-” and “max-” prefixes on their name. Doing either of these changes the meaning of the feature—​rather than the media feature being true when the feature exactly matches the given value, it matches when the feature is greater than/less than/equal to the given value.

2.4.2. Evaluating Media Features in a Boolean Context

While media features normally have a syntax similar to CSS properties, they can also be written more simply as just the feature name, like (color).

When written like this, the media feature is evaluated in a boolean context. If the feature would be true for any value other than the number 0, a <dimension> with the value 0, the keyword none, or a value explicitly defined by that media feature to evaluate as false in a boolean context, the media feature evaluates to true. Otherwise, it evaluates to false.

2.4.3. Evaluating Media Features in a Range Context

Media features with a “range” type can be alternately written in a range context that takes advantage of the fact that their values are ordered, using ordinary mathematical comparison operators:

Note: This syntax is new to Level 4 of Mediaqueries, and thus is not as widely supported at the moment as the min-/max- prefixes.

The basic form, consisting of a feature name, a comparison operator, and a value, returns true if the relationship is true.

The remaining forms, with the feature name nested between two value comparisons, returns true if both comparisons are true.

Some media features with a "range" type are said to be false in the negative range. This means that negative values are valid and must be parsed, and that querying whether the media feature is equal to, less than, or less or equal than any such negative value must evaluate to false. Querying whether the media feature is greater, or greater or equal, than a negative value evaluates to true if the relationship is true.

Note: If negative values had been rejected at parse time instead, they would be treated as unknown based on the error handling rules. However, in reality, whether a device’s resolution is -300dpi is not unknown, it is known to be false. Similarly, for any visual device, the width of the targeted display area is known to be greater than -200px The above rule reflects that, making intuition match what UAs do.

@media not (width <= -100px) {
  body { background: green; }
}

@media (height > -100px) {
  body { background: green; }
}

@media not (resolution: -300dpi) {
  body { background: green; }
}

2.4.4. Using “min-” and “max-” Prefixes On Range Features

Rather than evaluating a “range” type media feature in a range context, as described above, the feature may be written as a normal media feature, but with a “min-” or “max-” prefix on the feature name.

This is equivalent to evaluating the feature in a range context, as follows:

• Using a “min-” prefix on a feature name is equivalent to using the “>=” operator. For example, (min-height: 600px) is equivalent to (height >= 600px).
• Using a “max-” prefix on a feature name is equivalent to using the “<=” operator. For example, (max-width: 40em) is equivalent to (width <= 40em).

Note: because “min-” and “max-” both equate to range comparisons that include the value, they may be limiting in certain situations.

@media (max-width: 320px) { /* styles for viewports <= 320px */ }
@media (min-width: 321px) { /* styles for viewports >= 321px */ }

@media (max-width: 320px) { /* styles for viewports <= 320px */ }
@media (min-width: 320.01px) { /* styles for viewports >= 320.01px */ }

@media (width <= 320px) { /* styles for viewports <= 320px */ }
@media (width > 320px) { /* styles for viewports > 320px */ }

“Discrete” type properties do not accept “min-” or “max-” prefixes. Adding such a prefix to a “discrete” type media feature simply results in an unknown feature name.

Attempting to evaluate a min/max prefixed media feature in a boolean context is invalid and a syntax error.

2.5. Combining Media Features

Multiple media features can be combined together into a media condition using full boolean algebra (not, and, or).

• Any media feature can be negated by placing not before it. For example, not (color) inverts the meaning of (color)—​since (color) matches a device with any kind of color display, not (color) matches a device without any kind of color display.

• Two or more media features can be chained together, such that the query is only true if all of the media features are true, by placing and between them. For example, (width < 600px) and (height < 600px) only matches devices whose screens are smaller than 600px wide in both dimensions.

• Alternately, two or more media features can be chained together, such that the query is true if any of the media features are true, by placing or between them. For example, (update: slow) or (hover: none) matches if the device is slow to update the screen (such as an e-reader) or the primary pointing device has no hover capability, perhaps indicating that one should use a layout that displays more information rather than compactly hiding it until the user hovers.

• Media conditions can be grouped by wrapping them in parentheses () which can then be nested within a condition the same as a single media query. For example, (not (color)) or (hover) is true on devices that are monochrome and/or that have hover capabilities. If one instead wanted to query for a device that was monochrome and didn’t have hover capabilities, it must instead be written as not ((color) or (hover)) (or, equivalently, as (not (color)) and (not (hover))).

It is invalid to mix and and or and not at the same “level” of a media query. For example, (color) and (pointer) or (hover) is illegal, as it’s unclear what was meant. Instead, parentheses can be used to group things using a particular joining keyword, yielding either (color) and ((pointer) or (hover)) or ((color) and (pointer)) or (hover). These two have very different meanings: if only (hover) is true, the first one evaluates to false but the second evaluates to true.

3. Syntax

Informal descriptions of the media query syntax appear in the prose and railroad diagrams in previous sections. The formal media query syntax is described in this section, with the rule/property grammar syntax defined in [CSS-SYNTAX-3] and [CSS-VALUES-4].

To parse a <media-query-list> production, parse a comma-separated list of component values, then parse each entry in the returned list as a <media-query>. Its value is the list of <media-query>s so produced.

Note: This explicit definition of <media-query-list> parsing is necessary to make the error-recovery behavior of media query lists well-defined.

Note: This definition of <media-query-list> parsing intentionally accepts an empty list.

Note: As per [CSS-SYNTAX-3], tokens are ASCII case-insensitive.

<media-query> = <media-condition>
             | [ not | only ]? <media-type> [ and <media-condition-without-or> ]?
<media-type> = <ident>

<media-condition> = <media-not> | <media-in-parens> [ <media-and>* | <media-or>* ]
<media-condition-without-or> = <media-not> | <media-in-parens> <media-and>*
<media-not> = not <media-in-parens>
<media-and> = and <media-in-parens>
<media-or> = or <media-in-parens>
<media-in-parens> = ( <media-condition> ) | <media-feature> | <general-enclosed>

<media-feature> = ( [ <mf-plain> | <mf-boolean> | <mf-range> ] )
<mf-plain> = <mf-name> : <mf-value>
<mf-boolean> = <mf-name>
<mf-range> = <mf-name> <mf-comparison> <mf-value>
           | <mf-value> <mf-comparison> <mf-name>
           | <mf-value> <mf-lt> <mf-name> <mf-lt> <mf-value>
           | <mf-value> <mf-gt> <mf-name> <mf-gt> <mf-value>
<mf-name> = <ident>
<mf-value> = <number> | <dimension> | <ident> | <ratio>
<mf-lt> = '<' '='?
<mf-gt> = '>' '='?
<mf-eq> = '='
<mf-comparison> = <mf-lt> | <mf-gt> | <mf-eq>

<general-enclosed> = [ <function-token> <any-value>? ) ] | [ ( <any-value>? ) ]

The <media-type> production does not include the keywords only, not, and, or, and layer.

Note: The exclusion of layer is because it would otherwise be ambiguous when when used in the @import url(…) layer; syntax for the sake of cascade layers. See [CSS-CASCADE-5].

No whitespace is allowed between the “<” or “>” <delim-token>s and the following “=” <delim-token>, if it’s present.

Note: Whitespace is required between a not, and, or or keyword and the following ( character, because without it that would instead parse as a <function-token>. This is not made explicitly invalid because it’s already covered by the above grammar. It’s fine to have whitespace between a ) and a following keyword, however.

When parsing the <media-in-parens> production, the <general-enclosed> branch must only be chosen if the input does not match either of the preceding branches. <general-enclosed> exists to allow for future expansion of the grammar in a reasonably compatible way.

3.1. Evaluating Media Queries

Each of the major subexpression of <media-condition> or <media-condition-without-or> is associated with a boolean result, as follows:

<media-condition>

<media-condition-without-or>

The result is the result of the child subexpression.

<media-in-parens>

The result is the result of the child term.

<media-not>

The result is the negation of the <media-in-parens> term. The negation of unknown is unknown.

<media-in-parens> <media-and>*

The result is true if the <media-in-parens> child term and all of the <media-in-parens> children of the <media-and> child terms are true, false if at least one of these <media-in-parens> terms are false, and unknown otherwise.

<media-in-parens> <media-or>*

The result is false if the <media-in-parens> child term and all of the <media-in-parens> children of the <media-or> child terms are false, true if at least one of these <media-in-parens> terms are true, and unknown otherwise.

<general-enclosed>

The result is unknown.

Authors must not use <general-enclosed> in their stylesheets. It exists only for future-compatibility, so that new syntax additions do not invalidate too much of a <media-condition> in older user agents.

<media-feature>

The result is the result of evaluating the specified media feature.

If the result of any of the above productions is used in any context that expects a two-valued boolean, “unknown” must be converted to “false”.

Note: This means that, for example, when a media query is used in a @media rule, if it resolves to “unknown” it’s treated as “false” and fails to match.

3.2. Error Handling

A media query that does not match the grammar in the previous section must be replaced by not all during parsing.

Note: Note that a grammar mismatch does not wipe out an entire media query list, just the problematic media query. The parsing behavior defined above automatically recovers at the next top-level comma.

@media (example, all,), speech { /* only applicable to speech devices */ }
@media &test, speech           { /* only applicable to speech devices */ }

@media (example, speech { /* rules for speech devices */ }

An unknown <media-type> must be treated as not matching.

An unknown <mf-name> or <mf-value>, or a feature value which does not matches the value syntax for that media feature, results in the value “unknown”. A <media-query> whose value is “unknown” must be replaced with not all.

<link media="screen and (max-weight: 3kg) and (color), (color)"rel="stylesheet" href="example.css" />

@media (min-orientation:portrait) { … }

@media test;,all { body { background:lime } }

4. Viewport/Page Characteristics Media Features

4.1. Width: the width feature

The width media feature describes the width of the targeted display area of the output device. For continuous media, this is the width of the viewport (as described by CSS2, section 9.1.1 [CSS2]) including the size of a rendered scroll bar (if any). For paged media, this is the width of the page box (as described by CSS2, section 13.2 [CSS2]).

<length>s are interpreted according to § 1.3 Units.

width is false in the negative range.

<link rel="stylesheet" media="print and (min-width: 25cm)" href="http://…" />

@media (400px <= width <= 700px) { … }

@media (min-width: 20em) { … }

4.2. Height: the height feature

The height media feature describes the height of the targeted display area of the output device. For continuous media, this is the height of the viewport including the size of a rendered scroll bar (if any). For paged media, this is the height of the page box.

<length>s are interpreted according to § 1.3 Units.

height is false in the negative range.

4.3. Aspect-Ratio: the aspect-ratio feature

The aspect-ratio media feature is defined as the ratio of the value of the width media feature to the value of the height media feature.

4.4. Orientation: the orientation feature

portrait

The orientation media feature is portrait when the value of the height media feature is greater than or equal to the value of the width media feature.

landscape

Otherwise orientation is landscape.

@media (orientation:portrait) { … }

4.5. Block-Axis Overflow: the overflow-block feature

The overflow-block media feature describes the behavior of the device when content overflows the initial containing block in the block axis.

none

There is no affordance for overflow in the block axis; any overflowing content is simply not displayed. Examples: billboards

scroll

Overflowing content in the block axis is exposed by allowing users to scroll to it. Examples: computer screens

paged

Content is broken up into discrete pages; content that overflows one page in the block axis is displayed on the following page. Examples: printers, ebook readers

Media that match none or scroll are said to be continuous media, while those that match paged are said to be paged media

Note: Additional values for this media feature may be added in the future to describe classes of user agents with a hybrid behavior combining aspects of continuous and paged media. For example, the Presto layout engine (now discontinued) shipped with a semi-paginated presentation-mode behavior similar to continuous except that it honored forced page breaks. Not knowing of any currently-shipping user agent with this type of behavior, the Working Group has decided not to add such a value in this level to avoid mischaracterizing any such user agent. Anyone implementing a user agent not adequately described by any of the values specified above is encouraged to contact the Working Group so that extensions to this media feature may be considered.

4.6. Inline-Axis Overflow: the overflow-inline feature

The overflow-inline media feature describes the behavior of the device when content overflows the initial containing block in the inline axis.

none

There is no affordance for overflow in the inline axis; any overflowing content is simply not displayed.

scroll

Overflowing content in the inline axis is exposed by allowing users to scroll to it.

Note: There are no known implementations of paged overflow of inline-overflowing content, and the very concept doesn’t seem to make much sense, so there is intentionally no paged value for overflow-inline.

4.7. Horizontal Viewport Segments: the horizontal-viewport-segments feature

The horizontal-viewport-segments media feature describes the number of logical segments of the viewport in the horizontal direction.

The horizontal-viewport-segments media feature is false in the negative range.

When the viewport is split by one or more hardware features (such as a fold or a hinge between separate displays) that act as a logical divider, segments are the regions of the viewport that can be treated as logically distinct by the page.

4.8. Vertical Viewport Segments: the vertical-viewport-segments feature

The vertical-viewport-segments media feature describes the number of logical segments of the viewport in the vertical direction.

The vertical-viewport-segments media feature is false in the negative range.

@media (horizontal-viewport-segments: 2) and (vertical-viewport-segments: 1) { … }

4.9. Display Modes: the display-mode media feature

The display-mode media feature describes the mode in which the current browsing context is currently being presented to the end user. In child browsing contexts, the display mode must match that of the top-level browsing context.

This feature is primarily used to determine which display mode the user agent has applied to an application context. As such, the values of this feature correspond to the display modes defined in [APPMANIFEST]. However, it can also be used in non-application contexts to determine whether the viewport is in other modes, such as fullscreen or picture-in-picture.

fullscreen

The browsing context is displayed with browser UI elements hidden and takes up the entirety of the available display area. The fullscreen context may have been caused by the fullscreen display mode in the application manifest, by the requestFullscreen() method of the Fullscreen API, or through some other means (such as the user manually activating fullscreen mode using the user agent’s built-in controls).

Corresponds to the fullscreen display mode.

standalone

The standalone display mode is in use. Only applicable in an application context.

minimal-ui

The minimal-ui display mode is in use. Only applicable in an application context.

browser

The browsing context is displayed using the platform-specific convention for opening hyperlinks in the user agent (e.g., in a browser tab or web browser window with controls such as an address bar). This should be used for non-application contexts where no other display mode is appropriate.

Corresponds to the browser display mode.

picture-in-picture

This mode allows users to continue consuming media while they interact with other sites or applications on their device. The browsing context is displayed in a floating and always-on-top window. A user agent may include other platform specific UI elements, such as "back-to-tab" and "site information" buttons or whatever is customary on the platform and user agent.

{
  "display": "standalone"
}

@media (display-mode: standalone) { … }

/* applies when the viewport is fullscreen */
@media (display-mode: fullscreen) { … }

/* applies when an element is fullscreen */
#game:fullscreen { … }

Note: Additional values for this media feature may be added in the future to match new display modes added to [APPMANIFEST].

5. Display Quality Media Features

5.1. Display Resolution: the resolution feature

The resolution media feature describes the resolution of the output device, i.e. the density of the pixels, taking into account the page zoom but assuming a pinch zoom of 1.0.

The resolution media feature is false in the negative range

When querying media with non-square pixels, resolution queries the density in the vertical dimension.

For printers, this corresponds to the screening resolution (the resolution for printing dots of arbitrary color). Printers might have a different resolution for grayscale printing.

For output mediums that have no physical constraints on resolution (such as outputting to vector graphics), this feature must match the infinite value. For the purpose of evaluating this media feature in the range context, infinite must be treated as larger than any possible <resolution>. (That is, a query like (resolution > 1000dpi) will be true for an infinite media.)

@media (resolution >= 2dppx)

@media print and (min-resolution: 300dpi) { … }

@media print and (min-resolution: 118dpcm) { … }

5.2. Display Type: the scan feature

The scan media feature describes the scanning process of some output devices.

interlace

CRT and some types of plasma TV screens used “interlaced” rendering, where video frames alternated between specifying only the “even” lines on the screen and only the “odd” lines, exploiting various automatic mental image-correction abilities to produce smooth motion. This allowed them to simulate a higher FPS broadcast at half the bandwidth cost.

When displaying on interlaced screens, authors should avoid very fast movement across the screen to avoid “combing”, and should ensure that details on the screen are wider than 1px to avoid “twitter”.

progressive

A screen using “progressive” rendering displays each screen fully, and needs no special treatment.

Most modern screens, and all computer screens, use progressive rendering.

@media (scan: interlace) { body { font-family: sans-serif; } }

Note: At the time of writing, all known implementations match scan: progressive rather than scan: interlace.

5.3. Detecting Console Displays: the grid feature

The grid media feature is used to query whether the output device is grid or bitmap. If the output device is grid-based (e.g., a “tty” terminal, or a phone display with only one fixed font), the value will be 1. Otherwise, the value will be 0.

The <mq-boolean> value type is an <integer> with the value 0 or 1. Any other integer value is invalid. Note that -0 is always equivalent to 0 in CSS, and so is also accepted as a valid <mq-boolean> value.

Note: The <mq-boolean> type exists only for legacy purposes. If this feature were being designed today, it would instead use proper named keywords for its values.

@media (grid) and (max-width: 15em) { … }

Note: At the time of writing, all known implementations match grid: 0 rather than grid: 1.

5.4. Display Update Frequency: the update feature

The update media feature is used to query the ability of the output device to modify the appearance of content once it has been rendered. It accepts the following values:

none

Once it has been rendered, the layout can no longer be updated. Example: documents printed on paper.

slow

The layout may change dynamically according to the usual rules of CSS, but the output device is not able to render or display changes quickly enough for them to be perceived as a smooth animation. Example: E-ink screens or severely under-powered devices.

fast

The layout may change dynamically according to the usual rules of CSS, and the output device is not unusually constrained in speed, so regularly-updating things like CSS Animations can be used. Example: computer screens.

@media (update) {
  a { text-decoration: none; }
  a:hover, a:focus { text-decoration: underline; }
}
/* In non-updating UAs, the links get their default underline at all times. */

5.5. Detecting the display technology: the environment-blending feature

The environment-blending media feature is used to query the characteristics of the user’s display so the author can adjust the style of the document. An author might choose to adjust the visuals and/or layout of the page depending on the display technology to increase the appeal or improve legibility.

The following values are valid:

opaque

The document is rendered on an opaque medium, such as a traditional monitor or paper. Black is dark and white is 100% light.

additive

The display blends the colors of the canvas with the real world using additive mixing. Black is fully transparent and white is 100% light.

For example: a head-up display in a car.

subtractive

The display blends the colors of the canvas with the real world using subtractive mixing. White is fully transparent and dark colors have the most contrast.

For example: an LCD display embedded in a bathroom mirror.

Is there a need for the subtractive value?

body { background-color: white; }
p { color: black; }

@media(environment-blending: additive) {
    body { background-color: black; }
    p { color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 1000; }
}

6. Color Media Features

6.1. Color Depth: the color feature

The color media feature describes the number of bits per color component of the output device. If the device is not a color device, the value is zero.

color is false in the negative range.

@media (color) { … }
@media (min-color: 1) { … }

@media (color >= 8) { … }

If different color components are represented by different number of bits, the smallest number is used.

In a device with indexed colors, the minimum number of bits per color component in the lookup table is used.

Note: The described functionality is only able to describe color capabilities at a superficial level. color-gamut, is generally more relevant to authors’ needs. If further functionality is required, RFC2879 [RFC2879] provides more specific media features which may be supported at a later stage.

6.2. Paletted Color Screens: the color-index feature

The color-index media feature describes the number of entries in the color lookup table of the output device. If the device does not use a color lookup table, the value is zero.

color-index is false in the negative range.

@media (color-index) { … }
@media (color-index >= 1) { … }

<?xml-stylesheet media="(min-color-index: 256)"
  href="http://www.example.com/…" ?>

6.3. Monochrome Screens: the monochrome feature

The monochrome media feature describes the number of bits per pixel in a monochrome frame buffer. If the device is not a monochrome device, the output device value will be 0.

monochrome is false in the negative range.

@media (monochrome) { … }

@media (monochrome >= 2) { … }

<link rel="stylesheet" media="print and (color)" href="http://…" />
<link rel="stylesheet" media="print and (monochrome)" href="http://…" />

6.4. Color Display Quality: the color-gamut feature

The color-gamut media feature describes the approximate range of colors that are supported by the UA and output device. That is, if the UA receives content with colors in the specified space it can cause the output device to render the appropriate color, or something appropriately close enough.

Note: The query uses approximate ranges for a few reasons. Firstly, there are a lot of differences in display hardware. For example, a device might claim to support "Rec. 2020", but actually renders a significantly lower range of the full gamut. Secondly, there are a lot of different color ranges that different devices support, and enumerating them all would be tedious. In most cases the author does not need to know the exact capabilities of the display, just whether it is better than sRGB, or significantly better than sRGB. That way they can serve appropriate images, tagged with color profiles, to the user.

srgb

The UA and output device can support approximately the sRGB gamut or more.

Note: It is expected that the vast majority of color displays will be able to return true to a query of this type.

p3

The UA and output device can support approximately the gamut specified by the Display P3 [Display-P3] Color Space or more.

Note: The p3 gamut is larger than and includes the srgb gamut.

rec2020

The UA and output device can support approximately the gamut specified by the ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 Color Space or more.

Note: The rec2020 gamut is larger than and includes the p3 gamut.

The following table lists the primary colors of these color spaces in terms of their color space chromaticity coordinates, as defined in [COLORIMETRY].

Note: The table above does not contains enough information to fully describe the color spaces, but is sufficient to determine whether an output device approximately covers their respective gamuts. See [SRGB] for more information on sRGB, [Display-P3] for more information on Display P3, and [ITU-R-BT-2020-2] for more information on ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020.

@media (color-gamut: p3) { … }

Note: An output device can return true for multiple values of this media feature, if its full output gamut is large enough, or one gamut is a subset of another supported gamut. As a result, this feature is best used in an "ascending" fashion—​set a base value when (color-gamut: srgb) is true, then override it if (color-gamut: p3) is true, etc.

Note: Some output devices, such as monochrome displays, cannot support even the srgb gamut. To test for these devices, you can use this feature in a negated boolean-context fashion: not (color-gamut).

6.5. Dynamic Range: the dynamic-range feature

dynamic-range represents the combination of max brightness, color depth, and contrast ratio that are supported by the user agent and output device.

high

The user agent and the output device fulfill all of the following criteria:

• they support a high peak brightness

• they support a high contrast ratio

• the color depth is greater than 24 bit or 8 bit per color component of RGB

Note: Some devices have high dynamic range capabilities that are not always on, and that need to be activated (sometimes programmatically, sometimes by the user, sometimes based on the content). This media feature does not test whether such a mode is active, just whether the device is capable of high dynamic range visuals.

standard

This value matches on any visual device, and not on devices lacking visual capabilities.

Note: More than one value of this media feature can match simultaneously: a user agent matching high will also match standard.

6.5.1. Determining contrast and brightness of display

Peak brightness refers to how bright the brightest point a light-emitting device such as an LCD screen can produce, or in the case of a light reflective device such as paper or e-ink, the point at which it least absorbs light.

Note: Some devices can only produce their peak brightness for brief periods of time or on a small portion of their surface at any given time.

The contrast ratio is the ratio of the luminance of the brightest color to that of the darkest color that the system is capable of producing.

This specification does not define precise ways by which these qualities can be measured; it also lets the user agent determine what counts as a high contrast ratio and as a high peak brightness. User agents must nonetheless attempt to conform to the following intent: a device capable of high peak brightness can display “brighter than white” highlights, and a simultaneous ability to do so while also presenting deep blacks (rather than an overall bright but washed out image) is indicative of a high contrast ratio.

Note: The determination for dynamic-range and video-dynamic-range will be vary depending on the user agent, but is expected to have broadly dependable semantics.

6.6. Detecting inverted colors on the display: the inverted-colors feature

The inverted-colors media feature indicates whether the content is displayed normally, or whether colors have been inverted.

Note: This is an indication that the user agent or underlying operating system has forcibly inverted all colors, not a request to do so. This is sometimes provided as a simple accessibility feature, allowing users to switch between light-on-dark and dark-on-light text. However, this has unpleasant side effects, such as inverting pictures, or turning shadows into highlights, which reduce the readability of the content.

none

Colors are displayed normally.

inverted

All pixels within the displayed area have been inverted.

This value must not match if the user agent has done some kind of content aware inversion such as one that preserves the images.

Note: This is because the goal of this media feature is to enable authors to mitigate the undesirable effects of the non content aware approach that invert all the pixels. If the author were to take counter measures even in the content-aware cases, their counter measures and the UA’s would be at risk of cancelling each other.

@media (inverted-colors) {
  img:not(picture > img), picture, video {
    filter: invert(100%);
  }
}

@media (inverted-colors) {
  * {
    text-shadow: none !important;
    box-shadow: none !important;
  }
}

7. Interaction Media Features

The “interaction” media features reflect various aspects of how the user interacts with the page.

The pointer and hover features relate to the characteristics of the “primary” pointing device, while any-pointer and any-hover can be used to query the properties of all potentially available pointing devices.

Note: While this specification does not define how user agents should decide what the “primary” pointing device is, the expectation is that user agents should make this determination by combining knowledge about the device/environment they are running on, the number and type of pointing devices available, and a notion of which of these is generally and/or currently being used. In situations where the primary input mechanism for a device is not a pointing device, but there is a secondary – and less frequently used – input that is a pointing devices, the user agent may decide to treat the non-pointing device as the primary (resulting in 'pointer: none'). user agents may also decide to dynamically change what type of pointing device is deemed to be primary, in response to changes in the user environment or in the way the user is interacting with the UA.

Note: The pointer, hover, any-pointer and any-hover features only relate to the characteristics, or the complete absence, of pointing devices, and can not be used to detect the presence of non-pointing device input mechanisms such as keyboards. Authors should take into account the potential presence of non-pointing device inputs, regardless of which values are matched when querying these features.

7.1. Pointing Device Quality: the pointer feature

The pointer media feature is used to query the presence and accuracy of a pointing device such as a mouse. If multiple pointing devices are present, the pointer media feature must reflect the characteristics of the “primary” pointing device, as determined by the user agent. (To query the capabilities of any available pointing devices, see the any-pointer media feature.)

none

The primary input mechanism of the device does not include a pointing device.

coarse

The primary input mechanism of the device includes a pointing device of limited accuracy. Examples include touchscreens and motion-detection sensors (like the Kinect peripheral for the Xbox.)

fine

The primary input mechanism of the device includes an accurate pointing device. Examples include mice, touchpads, and drawing styluses.

Both coarse and fine indicate the presence of a pointing device, but differ in accuracy. A pointing device with which it would be difficult or impossible to reliably pick one of several small adjacent targets at a zoom factor of 1 would qualify as coarse. Changing the zoom level does not affect the value of this media feature.

Note: As the UA may provide the user with the ability to zoom, or as secondary pointing devices may have a different accuracy, the user may be able to perform accurate clicks even if the value of this media feature is coarse. This media feature does not indicate that the user will never be able to click accurately, only that it is inconvenient for them to do so. Authors are expected to react to a value of coarse by designing pages that do not rely on accurate clicking to be operated.

For accessibility reasons, even on devices whose pointing device can be described as fine, the UA may give a value of coarse or none to this media query, to indicate that the user has difficulties manipulating the pointing device accurately or at all. In addition, even if the primary pointing device has fine pointing accuracy, there may be additional coarse pointing devices available to the user. Authors may wish to query the any-pointer media feature to take these other coarse potential pointing devices into account.

/* Make radio buttons and check boxes larger if we have an inaccurate primary pointing device */
@media (pointer:coarse) {
  input[type="checkbox"], input[type="radio"] {
    min-width:30px;
    min-height:40px;
    background:transparent;
  }
}

7.2. Hover Capability: the hover feature

The hover media feature is used to query the user’s ability to hover over elements on the page with the primary pointing device. If a device has multiple pointing devices, the hover media feature must reflect the characteristics of the “primary” pointing device, as determined by the user agent. (To query the capabilities of any available pointing devices, see the any-hover media feature.)

none

Indicates that the primary pointing device can’t hover, or that there is no pointing device. Examples include touchscreens and screens that use a basic drawing stylus.

Pointing devices that can hover, but for which doing so is inconvenient and not part of the normal way they are used, also match this value. For example, a touchscreen where a long press is treated as hovering would match hover: none.

hover

Indicates that the primary pointing device can easily hover over parts of the page. Examples include mice and devices that physically point at the screen, like the Nintendo Wii controller.

For accessibility reasons, even on devices that do support hovering, the UA may give a value of hover: none to this media query, to opt into layouts that work well without hovering. Note that even if the primary input mechanism has 'hover: hover' capability, there may be additional input mechanisms available to the user that do not provide hover capabilities.

/* Only use a hover-activated drop down menu on devices that can conveniently hover. */
@media (hover) {
  .menu > li        {display:inline-block;}
  .menu ul          {display:none; position:absolute;}
  .menu li:hover ul {display:block; list-style:none; padding:0;}
  /* ... */
}

7.3. All Available Interaction Capabilities: the any-pointer and any-hover features

The any-pointer and any-hover media features are identical to the pointer and hover media features, but they correspond to the union of capabilities of all the pointing devices available to the user. In the case of any-pointer, more than one of the values can match, if different pointing devices have different characteristics.

any-pointer and any-hover must only match none if all of the pointing devices would match none for the corresponding query, or there are no pointing devices at all.

7.4. Detecting UA-supplied navigation controls: the nav-controls feature

The nav-controls media features allows authors to know whether the user agent is providing obviously discoverable navigation controls as part of its user interface.

Note: Traditional browsers typically do provide such controls and web pages typically have not needed to concern themselves with that, but in some contexts, web applications are run through so-called web-views, which do not always feature a full-fledged user interface. It is thus useful for authors to know what is being supplied by the user agent, so that they can consider whether they need to provide an easily discovered alternative.

In this context, obviously discoverable refers to controls which are either directly visible in the user interface, such as buttons, or some other form of control which is typical of the user interface of that device and trivially identifiable by the user. In the case of visual user interfaces, this would typically a visible control, although it could be something else in the case of an audio or tactile user interface. Importantly, this is not about keyboard shortcuts or gestures; as convenient as these can be, these are not obviously discoverable by just looking at (in the case of a visual UI) the user agent.

The following values are valid:

none

The user agent does not have any obviously discoverable navigation controls, and in particular none that cause the user agent to move back one page in the joint session history.

back

The user agent provides navigation controls, including at least an obviously discoverable control causing the user agent to move back one page in the joint session history (typically, a “back” button).

@media (nav-controls: back) {
  #back-button {
    display: none;
  }
}

@media (nav-controls) {
  #back-button {
    display: none;
  }
}

Whether obviously discoverable controls are active does not impact the evaluation of this media feature.

8. Video Prefixed Features

Some user agents, including many TVs, render video and graphics in two separate "planes" (bi-plane) with distinct screen characteristics. A set of video-prefixed features is provided to describe the video plane.

Any bi-plane implementation must return values based on the video plane for the following features: video-color-gamut; video-dynamic-range. All other features must return values based on the graphics plane.

Non bi-plane implementations must return the same values for video-prefixed features and their non-prefixed counterparts.

8.1. Video Color Display Quality: the video-color-gamut feature

The video-color-gamut media feature describes the approximate range of colors that are supported by the UA and output device’s video plane. That is, if the UA receives content with colors in the specified space it can cause the output device to render the appropriate color, or something appropriately close enough.

Value and color space definitions are the same as color-gamut

8.2. Video Dynamic Range: the video-dynamic-range feature

video-dynamic-range represents the combination of max brightness, color depth, and contrast ratio that are supported by the UA and output device’s video plane.

Supported values are the same as dynamic-range.

9. Scripting Media Features

9.1. Scripting Support: the scripting feature

The scripting media feature is used to query whether scripting languages, such as JavaScript, are supported on the current document.

enabled

Indicates that the user agent supports scripting of the page, and that scripting in the current document is enabled for the lifetime of the document.

initial-only

Indicates that the user agent supports scripting of the page, and that scripting in the current document is enabled during the initial page load, but is not supported afterwards. Examples are printed pages, or pre-rendering network proxies that render a page on a server and send a nearly-static version of the page to the user.

Should there be an explicit minimum threshold to meet before a UA is allowed to claim initial-only? Having one would mean authors would know what they can depend on, and could tailor their scripts accordingly. On the other hand, pinpointing that threshold is difficult: if it is set too low, the scripting facilities that authors can depend on may be to constrained to be practical, even though actual UAs may potentially all support significantly more. But trying to set it higher may cause us to exclude UAs that do support scripting at loading time, but restrict it in some cases based on complex heuristics. For instance, conservative definitions likely include at least running all inline scripts and firing the DOMContentLoaded event. But it does not seem useful for authors to constrain themselves to this if most (or maybe all) initial-only UAs also load external scripts (including async and defer) and fire the load event. On the other hand, requiring external scripts to be loaded and the load event to be fired could exclude UAs like Opera mini, which typically do run them, but may decide not to based on timeouts and other heuristics. [Issue #503]

none

Indicates that the user agent will not run scripts for this document; either it doesn’t support a scripting language, or the support isn’t active for the current document.

Some user agents have the ability to turn off scripting support on a per script basis or per domain basis, allowing some, but not all, scripts to run in a particular document. The scripting media feature does not allow fine grained detection of which script is allowed to run. In this scenario, the value of the scripting media feature should be enabled or initial-only if scripts originating on the same domain as the document are allowed to run, and none otherwise.

Note: A future level of CSS may extend this media feature to allow fine-grained detection of which script is allowed to run.

10. Custom Media Queries

When designing documents that use media queries, the same media query may be used in multiple places, such as to qualify multiple @import statements. Repeating the same media query multiple times is an editing hazard; an author making a change must edit every copy in the same way, or suffer from difficult-to-find bugs in their CSS.

To help ameliorate this, this specification defines a method of defining custom media queries, which are simply-named aliases for longer and more complex media queries. In this way, a media query used in multiple places can instead be assigned to a custom media query, which can be used everywhere, and editing the media query requires touching only one line of code.

A custom media query is defined with the @custom-media rule:

@custom-media = @custom-media <extension-name> [ <media-query-list> | true | false ] ;

The <extension-name> can then be used in a media feature. It must be used in a boolean context; using them in a normal or range context is a syntax error. If a <media-query-list> is given, the custom media query evaluates to true if the <media-query-list> it represents evaluates to true, and false otherwise. If true or false is given, the custom media query evaluates to true or false, respectively.

/* --modern targets modern devices that support color or hover */
@custom-media --modern (color), (hover);

@media (--modern) and (width > 1024px) {
  .a { color: green; }
}

@media ((color) or (hover)) and (width > 1024px) {
  .a { color: green; }
}

@media (color), (hover) and (width > 1024px) {
  .a { color: green; }
}

A @custom-media rule can refer to other custom media queries. However, loops are forbidden, and a custom media query must not be defined in terms of itself or of another custom media query that directly or indirectly refers to it. Any such attempt of defining a custom media query with a circular dependency must cause all the custom media queries in the loop to fail to be defined.

If multiple @custom-media rules declare the same <extension-name>, the truth value is based on the last one alone, ignoring all previous declarations of the same <extension-name>.

Note: For error handling purposes, an undefined media feature is different from a media feature that evaluates to false. See Media Queries 4 § 3.2 Error Handling for details.

@custom-media --narrow-window (max-width: 30em);

@media (--narrow-window) {
  /* narrow window styles */
}
@media (--narrow-window) and (script) {
  /* special styles for when script is allowed */
}
/* etc */

10.1. Script-based Custom Media Queries

<script>
CSS.customMedia.set('--foo', 5);
</script>
<style>
@media (_foo: 5) { ... }
@media (_foo < 10) { ... }
</style>

11. User Preference Media Features

11.1. Detecting the desire for less motion on the page: the prefers-reduced-motion feature

The prefers-reduced-motion media feature is used to detect if the user has requested the system minimize the amount of non-essential motion it uses.

no-preference

Indicates that the user has made no preference known to the system. This keyword value evaluates as false in the boolean context.

reduce

Indicates that user has notified the system that they prefer an interface that removes or replaces the types of motion-based animation that either trigger discomfort for those with vestibular motion sensitivity, or distraction for those with attention deficits.

11.2. Detecting the desire for reduced transparency on the page: the prefers-reduced-transparency feature

The prefers-reduced-transparency media feature is used to detect if the user has requested the system minimize the amount of transparent or translucent layer effects it uses.

no-preference

Indicates that the user has made no preference known to the system. This keyword value evaluates as false in the boolean context.

reduce

Indicates that user has notified the system that they prefer an interface that minimizes the amount of transparent or translucent layer effects.

How does this interact with preferences around e.g. pattern fills and backgrounds? They’re not about transparency, but they also interfere with shape recognition.

11.3. Detecting the desire for increased or decreased color contrast from elements on the page: the prefers-contrast feature

The prefers-contrast media feature is used to detect if the user has requested more or less contrast in the page. This could be responded to, for example, by adjusting the contrast ratio between adjacent colors, or by changing how much elements stand out visually, such as by adjusting their borders.

no-preference

Indicates that the user has made no preference known to the system. This keyword value evaluates as false in the boolean context.

less

Indicates that user has notified the system that they prefer an interface that has a lower level of contrast.

more

Indicates that user has notified the system that they prefer an interface that has a higher level of contrast.

custom

Indicates that the user has indicated wanting a specific set of colors to be used, but the contrast implied by these particular colors is such that neither more nor less match.

Note: This value will match for users of forced colors mode who have picked a palette that is neither particularly high nor low contrast. See § 11.4 Detecting Forced Colors Mode: the forced-colors feature.

A user calling for cyan text over a rust background is not—​at least in terms of luminosity—​expressing a need for particularly high or low contrast, but this is not a lack of a preference either.

11.4. Detecting Forced Colors Mode: the forced-colors feature

active

Indicates that forced colors mode is active: the user agent enforces a user-chosen limited color palette on the page, The UA will provide the color palette to authors through the CSS system color keywords. See CSS Color Adjustment 1 § 3 Forced Color Palettes for details.

This does not necessarily indicate a preference for more contrast. The colors have been forcibly adjusted to match the preference of the user, but that preference can be for less or more contrast, or some other arrangement that is neither particularly low or high contrast.

In addition to forced-colors: active, the user agent must also match one of prefers-contrast: more or prefers-contrast: less if it can determine that the forced color palette chosen by the user has a particularly high or low contrast, and must make prefers-contrast: custom match otherwise.

Similarly, if the forced color palette chosen by the user fits within one of the color schemes described by prefers-color-scheme, the corresponding value must also match.

none

Forced colors mode is not active.

11.5. Detecting the desire for light or dark color schemes: the prefers-color-scheme feature

The prefers-color-scheme media feature reflects the user’s desire that the page use a light or dark color theme.

light

Indicates that user has expressed the preference for a page that has a light theme (dark text on light background), or has not expressed an active preference (and thus should receive the "web default" of a light theme).

dark

Indicates that user has expressed the preference for a page that has a dark theme (light text on dark background).

Note: The values for this feature might be expanded in the future (to express a more active preference for light color schemes, or preferences for other types of color schemes like "sepia"). As such, the most future-friendly way to use this media feature is by negation such as (prefers-color-scheme: dark) and (not (prefers-color-scheme: dark)), which ensures that new values fall into at least one of the styling blocks.

The method by which the user expresses their preference can vary. It might be a system-wide setting exposed by the Operating System, or a setting controlled by the user agent.

Note: User preferences can also vary by medium. For example, a user may prefer dark themes on a glowing screen, but light themes when printing (to save ink and/or because inked text on blank paper prints better than blank letterforms knocked out of an inked background). UAs are expected to take such variances into consideration so that prefers-color-scheme reflects preferences appropriate to the medium rather than preferences taken out of context.

If evaluated in an embedded SVG document using the "Secure Animated" embedding mode, the preferred color scheme must reflect the value of the used color scheme on the embedding node in the embedding document.

11.6. Detecting the desire for reduced data usage when loading a page: the prefers-reduced-data feature

This feature may be an undesired source of fingerprinting, with a bias towards low income with limited data. [Issue #10076]

The prefers-reduced-data media feature is used to detect if the user has a preference for being served alternate content that uses less data for the page to be rendered.

no-preference

Indicates that the user has made no preference known to the system. This keyword value evaluates as false in the boolean context.

reduce

Indicates that user has expressed the preference for lightweight alternate content.

The method by which the user expresses their preference can vary. It might be a system-wide setting exposed by the Operating System, or a setting controlled by the user agent. User agents may consider setting this based on the same user or system preference as they use to set the Save-Data HTTP request header.

Note: User agents are encouraged to use their own user centered discretion when handling a toggle of this value, whether it’s toggled post page load or during page load. A primary goal could be to not download unnecessary data. Consider, if a page is already loaded with high quality assets and the user changes their preference to reduced, the page could perhaps not update the document right away, instead wait for an explicit page reload invocation from the user. Consider also, if a page is taking a long time to download and a user changes their preference to reduced, this could be a nice point to save the user’s bandwidth and immediately switch to downloading smaller assets. User agents are free to implement logic as they see appropriate for situations like these, and also ought to be aware the situations exist.

.image {
  background-image: url("images/heavy.jpg");
}

@media (prefers-reduced-data: reduce) {
  /* Save-Data: On */
  .image {
    background-image: url("images/light.jpg");
  }
}

11.7. Automatic handling of User Preferences

User agents may have explicit settings allowing users to indicate their preferences or may make the determination based on settings in the underlying operating system. User agents may also automatically infer the preferences of the user based on knowledge about the device, the environment, etc. In such case, it is recommended that they also offer a way for users to opt out of or override the automatically determined preferences.

12. Script Control of User Preferences

It is common for website authors to want to respect the user’s system preferences while also allowing those preferences to be overridden. To help with this, this specification defines a way for authors to override the § 11 User Preference Media Features using the PreferenceManager interface.

This override allows the preference to integrate with various platform features that are affected by these preferences.

12.1. Extensions to the Navigator interface

[Exposed=Window, SecureContext]
partial interface Navigator {
  [SameObject] readonly attribute PreferenceManager preferences;
};

12.1.1. preferences attribute

When getting the preferences attribute always return the same instance of the PreferenceManager object.

12.1.2. PreferenceManager interface

[Exposed=Window, SecureContext]
interface PreferenceManager {
  readonly attribute PreferenceObject colorScheme;
  readonly attribute PreferenceObject contrast;
  readonly attribute PreferenceObject reducedMotion;
  readonly attribute PreferenceObject reducedTransparency;
  readonly attribute PreferenceObject reducedData;
};

12.1.3. colorScheme attribute

The colorScheme attribute is a PreferenceObject used to override the user’s preference for the color scheme of the site. This is modeled after the § 11.5 Detecting the desire for light or dark color schemes: the prefers-color-scheme feature.

If an override is set for this preference:

• The user agent MUST use this override for the § 11.5 Detecting the desire for light or dark color schemes: the prefers-color-scheme feature in all stylesheets applied to an origin including the UA style sheet.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when queried via `matchMedia()` from CSSOM View § 4 Extensions to the Window Interface.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when calculating the used color scheme.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when sending User Preference Media Features Client Hints Headers § 2.5 Sec-CH-Prefers-Color-Scheme.

• The user agent MUST also use this override for any UA features that are normally affected by § 11.5 Detecting the desire for light or dark color schemes: the prefers-color-scheme feature.

12.1.4. contrast attribute

The contrast attribute is a PreferenceObject used to override the user’s preference for the contrast of the site. This is modeled after the § 11.3 Detecting the desire for increased or decreased color contrast from elements on the page: the prefers-contrast feature.

If an override is set for this preference:

• The user agent MUST use this override for the § 11.3 Detecting the desire for increased or decreased color contrast from elements on the page: the prefers-contrast feature in all stylesheets applied to an origin including the UA style sheet.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when queried via `matchMedia()` from CSSOM View § 4 Extensions to the Window Interface.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when sending User Preference Media Features Client Hints Headers § 2.3 Sec-CH-Prefers-Contrast.

• The user agent MUST also use this override for any UA features that are normally affected by § 11.3 Detecting the desire for increased or decreased color contrast from elements on the page: the prefers-contrast feature.

Note: Unlike the media feature this preference is NOT able to be set to custom as this is tightly coupled to the § 11.4 Detecting Forced Colors Mode: the forced-colors feature.

12.1.5. reducedMotion attribute

The reducedMotion attribute is a PreferenceObject used to override the user’s preference for reduced motion on the site. This is modeled after the § 11.1 Detecting the desire for less motion on the page: the prefers-reduced-motion feature.

If an override is set for this preference:

• The user agent MUST use this override for the § 11.1 Detecting the desire for less motion on the page: the prefers-reduced-motion feature in all stylesheets applied to an origin including the UA style sheet.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when queried via `matchMedia()` from CSSOM View § 4 Extensions to the Window Interface.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when sending User Preference Media Features Client Hints Headers § 2.1 Sec-CH-Prefers-Reduced-Motion.

• The user agent MUST also use this override for any UA features that are normally affected by § 11.1 Detecting the desire for less motion on the page: the prefers-reduced-motion feature.

Note: An example of a UA feature that is affected by this preference could be disabling smooth scrolling, or pausing marquee elements.

12.1.6. reducedTransparency attribute

The reducedTransparency attribute is a PreferenceObject used to override the user’s preference for reduced transparency on the site. This is modeled after the § 11.2 Detecting the desire for reduced transparency on the page: the prefers-reduced-transparency feature.

If an override is set for this preference:

• The user agent MUST use this override for the § 11.2 Detecting the desire for reduced transparency on the page: the prefers-reduced-transparency feature in all stylesheets applied to an origin including the UA style sheet.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when queried via `matchMedia()` from CSSOM View § 4 Extensions to the Window Interface.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when sending User Preference Media Features Client Hints Headers § 2.2 Sec-CH-Prefers-Reduced-Transparency.

• The user agent MUST also use this override for any UA features that are normally affected by § 11.2 Detecting the desire for reduced transparency on the page: the prefers-reduced-transparency feature.

12.1.7. reducedData attribute

The reducedData attribute is a PreferenceObject used to override the user’s preference for reduced data usage on the site. This is modeled after the § 11.6 Detecting the desire for reduced data usage when loading a page: the prefers-reduced-data feature.

If an override is set for this preference:

• The user agent MUST use this override for the § 11.6 Detecting the desire for reduced data usage when loading a page: the prefers-reduced-data feature in all stylesheets applied to an origin including the UA style sheet.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when queried via `matchMedia()` from CSSOM View § 4 Extensions to the Window Interface.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when sending Save Data API § 2.1.1 Save-Data Request Header Field.

• The user agent MUST also use this override when calculating the Save Data API § 2.1 saveData attribute.

• The user agent MUST also use this override for any UA features that are normally affected by § 11.6 Detecting the desire for reduced data usage when loading a page: the prefers-reduced-data feature.

12.1.8. PreferenceObject interface

[Exposed=Window, SecureContext]
interface PreferenceObject : EventTarget {
  readonly attribute DOMString? override;
  readonly attribute DOMString value;
  readonly attribute FrozenArray<DOMString> validValues;

  undefined clearOverride();
  Promise<undefined> requestOverride(DOMString? value);

  attribute EventHandler onchange;
};

12.1.8.1. override attribute

12.1.8.2. value attribute

12.1.8.3. validValues attribute

12.1.8.4. onchange event handler attribute

The onchange attribute is an event handler IDL attribute for the onchange event handler, whose event handler event type is change.

@media (device-width < 800px) { … }

<link rel="stylesheet" media="(device-height > 600px)" />

@media (device-aspect-ratio: 16/9) { … }
@media (device-aspect-ratio: 32/18) { … }
@media (device-aspect-ratio: 1280/720) { … }
@media (device-aspect-ratio: 2560/1440) { … }