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Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Declare UTF-8 character encoding. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Implement accessible breadcrumb navigation. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when auditing metadata, crawlability, structured data, or indexability related to Implement valid BreadcrumbList schema. Verify the rendered HTML and HTTP response rather than relying only on source files.
Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Set text direction for RTL languages. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when auditing a site's meta tag uniqueness, generating page-specific meta descriptions, or reviewing CMS templates that inject the same description globally.
Use when you need to find the 2-3 most popular and well-maintained npm packages relevant to a frontend checklist rule, validate they meet quality thresholds, and add them to the rule's frontmatter.
Use when auditing or improving any frontend codebase against the full Front-End Checklist rule corpus through one entry point.
| name | charset |
| description | Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Declare UTF-8 character encoding. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction. |
| metadata | {"category":"html","priority":"critical","difficulty":"beginner","estimatedTime":"5","source":"frontendchecklist.io","url":"https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/html/charset"} |
Missing or incorrect charset causes mojibake (garbled text), broken special characters, and security vulnerabilities from character encoding attacks.
<meta charset="UTF-8"> as the first element in Verify that this HTML document declares UTF-8 character encoding in the head section and that it's positioned early in the document.
Add as the first meta tag in the head section of the HTML document.
Explain why UTF-8 character encoding is essential for international content support and preventing character display issues.
Review templates, server-rendered HTML, and shared components that output markup related to Declare UTF-8 character encoding. Flag exact elements, attributes, and routes where the rendered HTML violates the rule.
For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance,
see references/rule.md.
Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/html/charset