Why Isn't My CSS `:first-letter` Selector Working on a Span Element?

CSS :first-letter Not Functioning

Context

An attempt to style the first letter of a title section generated using Microsoft Word's HTML output has failed using the :first-letter selector. The HTML contains a span element with various inline styles.

Solution

The issue arises because :first-letter only works on block-level elements, as defined in the MDN documentation. In this case, the span element is an inline element.

To resolve the issue, there are two options:

1. Apply :first-letter to the enclosing paragraph element.

p::first-letter {
    font-size: 500px;
}

2. Set the span element to display as an inline-block and apply :first-letter to it.

p b span::first-letter {
    font-size: 500px !important;
}
span {
    display: inline-block;
}

Notes

• :first-letter does not affect elements preceded by content such as images or inline tables on the same line.
• Using :before before :first-letter applies the styling to the :before element instead of the first letter.

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