Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-fonts] Proposal for a new generic font family "Rounded" (#4605)

Some things to consider here:

- Would any user agent expose a different font for `rounded` vs `ui-rounded`?
- Would they allow one to be user-customized and not the other?
- Are there user agents / platforms that have rounded fonts but not something that fits the definition of a `ui-rounded` font (because it's not used in the user interface and doesn't match the other UI fonts)?

When the `ui-*` fonts were introduced, the argument was that there were legacy expectations preventing `serif` and `sans-serfi` from being updated to anything other than Times and Arial/Helvetica. With that perspective, the `ui-*` generics are the “modern” generics, and the other keywords are legacy fallbacks. There is no legacy argument for a `rounded`. But the `ui` prefix implies extra constraints and expectations that might not be appropriate if an author just wants a rounded style for big headings or buttons, without trying to mimic the UI at all.

Also, re:

>> OS decides to change its typographic conventions
>
> the same probability that an OS would replace ui-rounded with a slab serif. (That is to say, ~0 probability.)

I think you've misinterpreted the concern, @litherum.  The complaint against the `ui` fonts is that _if_ their purpose was to mimic the native UI, you could nonetheless end up with a dated design if a future design trend means that rounded fonts are used for headings (instead of sans-serif) and serif fonts for buttons and so on.

But that's separate from the question of whether there is any benefit to a non-ui generic.

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Received on Wednesday, 29 April 2020 03:21:38 UTC