Commonly Used UTF-8 Symbols

The tables below represent my modest effort to provide an accessible tool for getting some commonly used Unicode characters into my Web content.

The Windows Character Map never seemed convenient even in the days when I could see well enough to use a mouse easily. Now, the map is useless to me.

I can copy what I need from the left column in the tables below. Otherwise, I can use the decimal code to enter the character.

To look up other characters, see:

W3Schools UTF-8 character reference. The lists of characters are nicely organized but not complete. Also see these special pages at W3schools: Dingbats, Emojis, and Multimedia icons,
File Format Info UTF-8 Search. Very thorough.
Unicode.org.
HTML 5 entities. Well, this is not the same as UTF-8, but the giant table can be handy.

Typographical characters
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
En dash	`8211`	Used mainly in ranges such as date ranges.
Em dash	`8212`	Use around a phrase that interrupts the main thought of a sentence. See the Merriam-Webster article A Guide to Em Dashes, En Dashes, and Hyphens.
Left double quotation mark	`8220`
Right double quotation mark	`8221`
Left single quotation mark	`8216`
Right single quotation mark	`8217`	Also, the apostrophe symbol for contractions.
Horizontal ellipsis	`8230`
Non-breaking hyphen	`8209`	The keyboard hyphen produces fine typography. However, this non-breaking hyphen prevents awkward line breaks when the user resizes the browser window.
en space	`8194`	I think this looks good before and after an en dash in a range. For example: “6/1/2023 – 6/30/2023.”
em space	`8195`

Fore more characters, see General Punctuation and Latin 1 Supliment.

Legal symbols
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Copyright sign	`169`
Registered sign	`174`	Formerly called “registered trademark sign.”
Service mark	`8480`	Legal protection for the name of a service (not for product names). Note: Many screen readers do not speak this symbol, nor do they give any auditrory indication of its existence at the end of a word.
Trademark sign	`8482`	For an unregistered item.
Sound recording copyright	`8471`	Use before the year and owner name, if the work is protected. Note: Some fonts do not show this character, so you may need to apply a font that differs from the surrounding text.

Currency symbols
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Cent sign	`162`
Euro sign	`8364`
Pound sign	`163`

For other currency symbols, see Currency table.

Misc. characters
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Left-pointing magnifying glass	`128269`
Document icon	`128462`
Envelope	`9993;`
Heavy plus sign	`10133`	Use in a button to indicate that something hidden will be displayed.
Heavy minus sign	`10134`	Use in a button to indicate that something displayed will be hidden.
Heavy check mark	`10004`	Nice for custom radio buttons.
Heavy ballot mark	`10008`
Printer icon	`128438`
Warning symbol	`9888`
Beamed sixteenth note	`9836`	For more musical notes, see the Miscellaneous characters table.

Shapes
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Black up-pointing triangle	`9650`
Black down-pointing triangle	`9660`
Black medium left-pointing triangle centered	`11207`	Good for browser history backward button.
Black medium right-pointing triangle centered	`11208`	Good for browser history forward button.
Black right-pointing isosceles right triangle	`128898;`	Good for a Next button label.
black left-pointing isosceles right triangle	`128896;`	Good for a Previous button label.
Black square	`9632`
Black right-pointing pointer	`9658`
black down-pointing pointer	`9660`
Heavy left-pointing angle ornament	`10094`	Good for Previous page button label.
Heavy right-ointing angle ornament	`10095`	Good for Next page button label.

For many useful emoji, see W3Schools Emoji Reference.

Letter-like Characters and Numbers
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Facsimile sign	`8507`	Many screen readers do not speak this symbol.
Telephone sign	`8481`	Many screen readers do not speak this symbol.

Math symbols and numbers
Character	Decimal encoding	Comment
Degrees Fahrenheit sign	`8457`	Browsers may insert a line break before this symbol if the user resizes the window. To avoid this, enclose the number and this symbol in a `<span>` with a style that prevents line breaks. Note: Avoid using the simple degrees mark (°) in any page that is likely to be viewed internationally.
Degrees Celsius sign	`8451`
plus sign	Not needed	Entering the plus sign from the keyboard works just fine for math semantics.
Math minus sign	`8722`	Use instead of the hyphen for better typography and screen reader pronunciation. Examples: “−37” will be spoken as “minus 37.” “5 − 3 ” will be spoken as “Five minus 3.” Format such statements to avoid awkward line breaks as described above. To get screen readers to speak negative numbers, use a CSS style with the `::before` pseudo-element and the following property: `content: "−" / "negative";` So, the following `<span class="negativenum">12</span>` will be spoken as “negative twelve.” See more math symbols.
Multiplication sign	`215`	Use instead of the alphabetic “x” for better typography. Oddly, screen readers speak this as “multiplication sign, ” “x” or “times” without any apparent logic. Note: This sign is not in Unicode’s math operators set. See Latin 1 Supplement set.
Division sign	`8725`
½ fraction	`189`	For more fractions, see Latin Supliment .

A Few Words about Roman Numerals

UTF-8 includes the Roman numerals . I have given up on using them. I just do not see that they help my content. I suggggest that you just type the equivalent English letters and apply a font matching the classic styleroman numeral .

Published: 12/15/2024