What does the <meta charset="UTF-8"> tag do?

The tag is essential for defining the character encoding used in an HTML document. By specifying "UTF-8," it ensures that the web page can correctly display a wide array of characters from various languages and symbol sets. This is particularly important for the proper rendering of text, as it allows for the inclusion of special characters, such as accented letters, symbols, and even emoji, which are part of international communication.

Using UTF-8 as the character encoding promotes compatibility across different browsers and devices, ensuring that all users see the text as intended, without any misinterpretation or display issues. This meta tag should be included in the document head to ensure the character encoding is set before the browser begins to render the content.

The other options, while relevant to HTML and web design, pertain to different functionalities. One option focuses on the viewport settings for responsive design, another is about linking stylesheets for styling, and the last involves JavaScript configurations, none of which pertain to character encoding.