HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
The browser then retrieves the Web Font files needed for
the page.
2
“I need crazyfont.woff”
Ah this page
uses Web Fonts I better
retrieve the fonts I need.
Looks like I need “crazyfont”.
bcdefg
hi lmn
pqr tuv
wxyzABCD
EFGHI KL
crazyfont.woff
www.starbuzzcoffee.com
“Here ya go”
crazyfont.woff
Now, with the font retrieved, the browser uses the font
when it displays the page.
3
Look
Ma! A new font!
Finally something new
around here!
ab defg
hij lmn
opqrs uv
wxyzABCD
EFGHIJKL
crazyfont.woff
Hello
World!
www.starbuzzcoffee.com
Q: What's the woff, or web open font
format?
A: Woff is emerging as the standard
font format for Web Fonts, and you'll see it
supported today across all modern browsers.
That said, there has previously been some
lack of standardization in this area, with
different browsers supporting different font
formats. If you need to provide Web Fonts
to browsers that may not support woff, you'll
need to supply one or more of a few formats
that are available as alternatives. Web Font
hosting services can help a lot here.
Q: So to use a Web Font, I have to
host the font files on a server?
A: If you're just testing fonts you can
actually store and refer to them as local files
on your own file system (just like you do with,
say, an image). But if you want to deliver
fonts to your users on the Web, you either
have to host the files yourself on a server,
or make use of a hosting service, such as
Google's, which is free.
Q: If I use a Web Font, can I then
count on it being there for my users?
A: As long as they have a modern
browser (and discounting any network
connectivity or server issues), for the most
part, yes. However, if they are using old
browsers or mobile devices that don't yet
support Web Fonts, all bets are off and you
still need to supply font alternatives (we'll
see how in a sec).
Search WWH ::




Custom Search