list-style

The list-style CSS shorthand property allows you to set all the list style properties at once.

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

• list-style-image
• list-style-position
• list-style-type

/* type */
list-style: square;

/* image */
list-style: url('../img/shape.png');

/* position */
list-style: inside;

/* type | position */
list-style: georgian inside;

/* type | image | position */
list-style: lower-roman url('../img/shape.png') outside;

/* Keyword value */
list-style: none;

/* Global values */
list-style: inherit;
list-style: initial;
list-style: revert;
list-style: unset;

The list-style property is specified as one, two, or three keywords in any order. If list-style-type and list-style-image are both set, then list-style-type is used as a fallback if the image is unavailable.

list-style-type

See list-style-type.

list-style-image

See list-style-image.

list-style-position

See list-style-position.

none

No list style is used.

In a notable exception, Safari will not recognize an unordered list as a list in the accessibility tree if has a list-style value of none.

The most straightforward way to address this is to add an explicit role="list" to the <ul> element in the markup. This will restore the list semantics without affecting the design.

CSS-only workarounds are also available for those who do not have access to the markup. One is to add a zero-width space as pseudo-content before each list item:

ul {
  list-style: none;
}

ul li::before {
  content: "\200B";
}

A second approach is to apply a url value to the list-style property:

nav ol, nav ul {
  list-style: none;
}

/* becomes */

nav ol, nav ul {
  list-style: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'/%3E");
}

These CSS workarounds should be used only when the HTML solution is not available, and only after testing to ensure that they don't result in unexpected behaviors that may negatively impact users' experiences.

• 'Fixing' Lists
• VoiceOver and list-style-type: none – Unfettered Thoughts
• MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.3 explanations
• Understanding Success Criterion 1.3.1 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0

<'list-style-type'> || <'list-style-position'> || <'list-style-image'>

HTML

List 1
<ul class="one">
  <li>List Item1</li>
  <li>List Item2</li>
  <li>List Item3</li>
</ul>
List 2
<ul class="two">
  <li>List Item A</li>
  <li>List Item B</li>
  <li>List Item C</li>
</ul>

CSS

.one {
  list-style: circle;
}

.two {
  list-style: square inside;
}

Result

• list-style-type, list-style-image, list-style-position