Here’s the short talk I gave about languages written from right-to-left at WordCamp Europe 2017. I’m visibly nervous — this was the largest crowd I’ve ever presented to.

The slides:

While the slides make it clear that I go from talking about rtl.css — the file, used in WordPress themes, to RTLCSS — the node module, I realize that it’s somewhat hard to understand when watching the video. Sorry about that!

Helpful links:

• RTLCSS
• WP Core Grunt implementation of RTLCSS
• WP Codex page on RTL

Some relevant academic research on the effects of reading direction:

• Influence of reading habits on line bisection – PDF
• Reading habits influence aesthetic preference – PDF
• Scanning direction and line bisection: a study of normal subjects and unilateral neglect patients with opposite reading habits – PDF
• Native reading direction influences lateral biases in the perception of shape from shading – HTML