The Deprecated HTML `<font>` Tag: Why You Shouldn't Use It and How to Use CSS Instead

Learn why the HTML `<font>` tag is deprecated and should be avoided in modern web development. This guide explains the drawbacks of using `<font>` (mixing content and presentation), and demonstrates how to achieve better text styling using CSS for improved code maintainability and separation of concerns.



The Deprecated HTML <font> Tag

The <font> Tag is Deprecated

The HTML <font> tag was used in older versions of HTML (HTML 4) to set default font properties (color, size, and family) for text within a document. However, this tag is now deprecated in HTML5 and should not be used in modern web development. It's considered bad practice for several reasons, primarily because it mixes content and presentation. Using CSS for styling provides much better separation of concerns and improved maintainability.

Modern Alternatives: Using CSS for Styling

The recommended approach for styling text is to use CSS. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) allows you to control the visual presentation of your HTML elements separately from their structure, leading to cleaner, more maintainable, and more adaptable code.

Examples using CSS for styling:

HTML Structure (same for all examples)

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
CSS: Text Color

body {
  color: navy;
}
CSS: Font Family

body {
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
}
CSS: Font Size

body {
  font-size: 16px;
}