TL;DR
A writer and designer experimented with restoring the visual look of Cló Gaelach (insular Irish script) on websites while keeping original text intact for accessibility and copy-paste. They used OpenType discretionary ligatures to swap Latin letter sequences for dotted consonants in the font and built a reusable HTML component that pairs a visual rendering with accessible text and translation.
What happened
The author explored ways to reintroduce Cló Gaelach — the old insular Irish handwriting — into contemporary web pages without breaking accessibility or data portability. Historically, the script used a dot over consonants to mark lenition; later printing and typewriter limits led to replacing that modifier with an following "h." To recreate the older look, the author opened a Gaelic font in FontForge, added a discretionary ligature table to substitute consonant+h sequences with dotted consonant glyphs, and enabled the feature with CSS (font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures). To preserve both screen-reader output and readable translations, they built a reusable component that emits hidden, language-tagged plain text for assistive tech while rendering a visible ruby element pairing the Gaelic text and an English gloss. The author tested some ecosystem behavior and noted mixed support across language tools and readers.
Why it matters
- Preserves underlying text so copy-paste and assistive technologies still receive standard Latin characters.
- Recreates a historical and culturally distinctive typographic form without altering data or searchability.
- Demonstrates a pragmatic pattern for combining visual typography and accessible, language-tagged content.
- Highlights gaps in tooling and language resources for historical Gaelic orthographies.
Key facts
- Cló Gaelach (insular Irish script) originally marked consonant lenition with a dot above the letter.
- Typewriters and many printers lacked dedicated insular characters, so a following "h" came to be used instead.
- The author used FontForge to add an OpenType discretionary-ligature table that maps consonant+h to dotted consonant glyphs.
- The discretionary ligatures are optional and can be turned on with CSS (font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures).
- Using ligatures preserves the original underlying text while changing only the displayed glyphs.
- The author created a reusable Gaeilge component that exposes language-tagged text to screen readers and renders visible ruby annotations for translations.
- Google Translate can handle Cló Gaelach according to the author; other Irish reference sites named in the post do not.
- gaeilge-font resources and cataloging projects are cited: gaelchlo.com as a font repository and the CLÓSCAPE Project for examples around Dublin.
- The Tironian et (a historical shorthand symbol) was substituted for the Latin ampersand as a visual flourish in the font work.
What to watch next
- Whether other sites adopt discretionary-ligature substitutions to restore Cló Gaelach visually (not confirmed in the source).
- Improvements or changes in screenreader and NVDA plugin support for historical Gaelic scripts (not confirmed in the source).
- Broader tooling and reference sites adding support for Cló Gaelach or related orthographies (not confirmed in the source).
Quick glossary
- Cló Gaelach: An insular Irish script historically used to write Irish, characterized by dotted consonants to signal lenition.
- Lenition (séimhiú): A grammatical process in Irish that softens consonants; traditionally indicated in the script by a dot above the consonant.
- Discretionary ligatures: An optional OpenType font feature that substitutes glyph sequences for alternate glyphs when enabled by the user or stylesheet.
- Tironian et: A shorthand symbol historically used in Latin scripts, still seen in some Irish typographic contexts as an alternative to the ampersand.
- ruby element: An HTML element intended to provide pronunciation or annotation for text, often used for East Asian scripts and repurposed here to pair Gaelic text with a translation.
Reader FAQ
Does the approach change the underlying text?
No — the substitutions are visual only; the original Latin text remains present for copying and assistive technology.
Will screen readers read the Gaelic and translation correctly?
The author exposes language-tagged plain text for screen readers, but the ruby element's screenreader behavior is not consistently defined; NVDA plugin compatibility is not confirmed in the source.
How is the visual substitution implemented on the web?
By adding discretionary ligatures to an OpenType font and enabling them with CSS (font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures) while providing language-tagged fallback text.
Is Cló Gaelach supported by major language tools?
Google Translate reportedly handles Cló Gaelach, but some Irish reference sites mentioned do not; broader tooling support varies.
260101 Adding insular script like it's 1626 gaeilge UX typography a11y I’m a generation removed from when Irish children were taught to read and write in insular Irish script the…
Sources
- Adding insular script like it's 1626
- Cló Gaelach – Irish Script font project
- Cló Gaelach: What is the Old Irish Script?
- Gaelic type
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