<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
  .positioned {
    display:block;
  }

  .container {
    display:inline-block;
  }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline">Baseline aligned</span>
<span class="container"><span class="positioned">&nbsp;</span></span>
 </body>
</html>