JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
by ariehg
HTML
<ul>
<li>
<a id='a1' href='#'><span></span>1</a>
</li>
<li>
<a id='a2' href='#'><span></span>2</a>
</li>
<li>
<a id='a3' href='#'><span></span>3</a>
</li>
</ul>
CSS
li{display:inline-block; position: relative; height:30px; width:32px;}
/* Here is the important part */
a {z-index:0; display:block;}
a span{
/* general dimentions */
display:block;height:30px;
z-index:1;
position:absolute;
top:0;
left:0;
/* sprites */
background:url(http://blog.arieh.co.il/images/menu.gif) no-repeat;
}
/* Positioning background */
#a1 span{width:31px;}
#a2 span{width:32px; background-position:-31px 0;}
#a3 span{ width:34px; background-position:-63px 0;}