Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-fonts] Specifying changes to parameters for fallback fonts (#126)

The purpose of what's being proposed is to help even out the user experience of 'web page loads, then web fonts load'. There are a few things that seem worth pointing out:

1. Web fonts get a lot of use, and it only continues to grow
2. CSS supports a lot of typographic features, which is good—because good typography improves the user experience
3. There will always be a potential gap between when the DOM is loaded and the page initially rendering and when the web fonts load triggering a repaint
4. We currently have no way of addressing this without adding JS

While none of these solutions will every be 100% perfect, what @litherum and @r12a proposed would give web authors far more control with far fewer dependencies.

@jfkthame The solution that I described above (the current practice using an 'inactive' class) is something that I've been using with clients since 2010, and really does make a huge difference in getting content on screen with minimal reflow. It doesn't have to be perfect; just getting it close has a massive perceived performance benefit.

Adding a capability to achieve this on a per-selector basis without requiring additional JS will enable better user experiences and better performance (by reducing the need to load/process JS).

I realize that I'm (very) biased towards the importance of web fonts, but I'm not alone there either. If authors don't want to bother, things will just work as they do now and maybe for them that's just fine. 

But for those of us whose job it is to design and implement great experiences, these capabilities are really important. I've helped incorporate solutions that utilize these techniques for both the State of Georgia and now Rhode Island, and it's having a very positive impact for millions of people every week. It really makes a difference.

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Received on Thursday, 21 January 2021 17:44:44 UTC