Platforms Demonstrating Problem

Netscape Navigator 4 (all platforms)
Internet Explorer 4

Description of Problem

Neither browser fully supports the vertical-align property. Neither browser supports percentage or numerical vertical-align values. Both do support keyword values (superscript, etc.), but only in certain contexts -- for example, Internet Explorer supports the keyword "superscript" for inline text content elements (e.g. EM or SPAN), but not for IMG elements. The example document at http://www.utoronto.ca/ian/books/style/chap4/fig4-15.html is a test of vertical-align, and shows where it does and does not work.

Possible Workaround(s)

Because it works so poorly, it is safest to not use vertical-align. Instead, you can use the HTML-based alignment attributes on images, or the HTML SUP and SUB elements for subscripts and superscripts.