Re: CSS21 @font-face removal

> However, although I have no data, I am willing to bet that some users are
> intimidated by the thought of downloading and installing a font, even from a
> seemingly trustworthy site such as the Canadian Government.

Most businesses won't allow installs.  Some even wipe the system 
configuration on every boot.  Note that IE considers font "embedding"
a risk, as there is a separate security option.  I'm not sure if that
is well justified, but I suspect that TTF may actually be rather
a powerful language.

> 
> On a separate note, I would turn one point on its head. Imagine how much
> improved the look and feel of some sites would be  and how much creativity
> would be given to authors, if in fact they could build pages knowing that a
> specific font or fonts would be available for rendering the page! What a boon

That is, of course, subject to the font being licensed for such use.

More significantly, downloading a font increases bandwidth, and I seem to
remember that IE will download the font even if it then choses to use a
locally installed font.  (It's certainly a little fiddly to make it
use a local copy of the same font in preference to the downloaded one -  you
have to rename the downloaded one.)

> It would be a nice boon to the font industry as well, if they can start selling
> specialized fonts that web authors can use with their stylized pages. 

As I said in another reply, I think designers think that text as GIF fulfils
their purpose and is more flexible, and it is quite common for PDFs to
fail to include fonts that are needed for realistic display of the page.
If font embedding had been there very early, things might be different, but
nowadays it will be seen as restrictive.

Received on Tuesday, 21 October 2003 16:45:29 UTC