Revised WOFF FAQ (action 29)

Dear All,

Here is the revised revised FAQ text, incorporating feedback received on 
the previous draft. I believe this should be close to ready for 
publication, Chris. Vlas suggested that we try to increase the number of 
links in the example section (5); I'd be happy to see this added to over 
time, but don't feel that I'm the best person to do this as my focus is 
on the plumbing, not what comes out of the tap.

Sorry these few revisions took so long to accomplish.

JH

_____

This document replaces a temporary FAQ published in July 2010 in support 
of the W3C press release regarding initial submission of the WOFF draft 
specification. Given the speed with which WOFF has been embraced by both 
font vendors and browser makers, some of the information in this FAQ 
will doubtless become dated very quickly. The core text describing WOFF 
is not expected to change much, but obviously this document can only 
point to some of the early implementers and examples.


1. What is WOFF?

Web Open Font Format (WOFF) is an open delivery format for Web fonts, an 
integral part of improving the variety and quality of Web typography. 
Using WOFF files, a Web author can reference a font in CSS, using the 
@font-face syntax, and have it downloaded with the HTML or other Web 
content and used to display text in a reader’s browser; WOFF is also 
relevant to locally stored document types using Web standards, such as 
EPUB. The content of the WOFF file may be a font that the author has 
licensed as a WOFF or converted from an appropriately licensed desktop 
format font, or even a font that the author has created.

Until now, served typography has not been common on the Web due to the 
lack of an interoperable font format; most text on the Web has relied on 
a limited number of fonts locally installed on the reader’s device, or 
has been represented by images or other approaches that inhibit 
searchability, accessibility and other text operations such as cutting 
and pasting. WOFF provides a compact, open solution to these issues.

A WOFF file contains a compressed TrueType or OpenType font, and some 
XML metadata. It is helpful to think of a WOFF file as a package 
containing a font, and the metadata as labels on the package, indicating 
where the WOFF comes from and where it is meant to go.


2. What isn’t WOFF?

WOFF is not a new font format. WOFF does not replace existing font 
formats; rather, it provides a Web-specific a delivery format for 
compressed TrueType or OpenType fonts.

WOFF is not a desktop installable font format: it is specifically 
intended for Web delivery of fonts associated with particular sites and 
content, and will not be available to the user to install or use with 
other documents.


3. What are the general benefits of Web typography?

• An enhanced typographic palette on the Web
• Preservation of brand identity through cross-media typographic design
• More sophisticated typography using advanced layout features such as 
smallcap variants, ‘oldstyle’ numerals, etc. available in some fonts 
(accessible using CSS3 typographic features)
• Better internationalisation and more options for typography of 
non-European text
• Better accessibility than workarounds such as displaying textual 
content as images (text can be recognised and read by text-to-speech 
software; images of text cannot)
• Better searchability and search engine optimisation than textual 
content as images (text can be searched and indexed; images of text cannot)


4. What are the specific benefits of WOFF?

• A single, open and interoperable format for Web served fonts
• A formally defined and documented W3C Web file format
• A suite of conformance test tools for WOFF fonts, creators and user agents
• In-format compression for smaller font deliveries and shorter download 
times
• Improved user experience (smaller file sizes means faster page loading)
• Protection of author’s font asset investment (fonts cannot be 
‘hotlinked’ by other sites)
• Web font information easily accessible to web authors and users from 
WOFF metadata


5. Do you have demos or examples that show WOFF?

The text of page you are reading is formatted using WOFF (if your 
browser supports it).

There are several pages by Jonathan Kew and John Daggett of Mozilla, and 
by Sylvain Galineau and others of Microsoft, which demonstrate WOFF 
fonts. Although they are designed to showcase that company’s browser 
(Firefox 3.6+ and IE9 preview 3, respectively), the demos work the same 
with other browsers that support WOFF.

Some examples of WOFF in action:
http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Graphics/WebFonts/Default.html
http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Graphics/MoreWebFonts/Default.html
http://people.mozilla.org/~jdaggett/webfonts/mplus-test.html
http://people.mozilla.org/~jdaggett/webfonts/chunkfive-test.html


6. I’m a web author. When can I start using WOFF? How do I use it?

Today! A few lines in your CSS stylesheet link to a WOFF font and 
indicates where on your page to use it. Browsers that don’t yet support 
WOFF will use the next available font on your font list, so there is 
graceful fallback. Over time, as new browser versions support WOFF, your 
stylesheets will continue to work without any need for you to update or 
edit the CSS code. [Link: Learn more about WOFF implementations.]


7. Are there WOFF fonts I can use?

WOFF fonts are already available from some commercial foundries and Web 
font services, including Ascender, Bitstream, FontShop, Monotype, 
Typekit, Webtype, WebInk, etc.. Free and open source fonts that can be 
served as WOFF files are available from the Open Font Library, SIL Web 
font collection, or FontSquirrel.

Some commercial foundries will license fonts for Web serving directly in 
WOFF format; others may permit or expect authors to create their own 
WOFF files from licensed desktop fonts. Authors should check font 
licenses before creating and serving WOFF files.


8. I’m a font creator. How do I make my own WOFF files?

You can use a font editor that already supports WOFF generation 
directly, like Fontforge. Or, you can use another tool that generates 
TrueType and OpenType fonts, then convert these to WOFF files with a 
utility such as sfnt2woff. If you know how to design a font, you can 
start adding WOFF to your repertoire immediately.


9. How long has WOFF been around?

Nine months elapsed between the first appearance of WOFF and its 
publication as a public Working Draft at W3C in July 2010. However, 
efforts to deploy served fonts on the Web are much older. Half of the 
solution, the CSS @font-face rule, has been a standard for a decade, but 
was hampered by the lack of an interoperable font format. Until 2010, it 
has been difficult for multiple stakeholders (browser implementers, font 
designers, foundries, web designers) to reach a consensus, but W3C has 
been able to bring them to the table. The WebFonts Working Group has 
made swift progress in refining the WOFF specification and developing 
the conformance test suite.


10. How close is WOFF to becoming a W3C standard?

As of 1 February 2011… WOFF has been published on the W3C Standards 
Track; this means that it is on its way to becoming a Royalty-Free 
standard. In November 2010, the WOFF specification was submitted for 
‘last call’ comments, and responses to this are now being addressed by 
the Working Group. The conformance test suite, mostly developed by WOFF 
co-inventor Tal Leming, is in an advanced state. Once there are 
implementations that pass the test suite, WOFF will move to being a W3C 
Recommendation (Web Standard).


11. How does WOFF relate to other Web formats (HTML, CSS, SVG, …)?

CSS and SVG already have ways to point to downloadable fonts, so those 
specifications don’t have to change to use WOFF. As implementations pick 
up, content will start to refer to WOFF for served fonts.


12. Will website visitors have to pay to use fonts?

No. Website visitors do not pay to read text displayed with WOFF. If the 
fonts used are commercial, a license or service fee is paid by the 
content publisher.


13. Will downloading fonts slow page loads?

WOFF compression, especially when combined with font subsetting, means 
that the impact on page load is minimal. Actual download times will 
depend on the individual font contained within the WOFF file.

Initial testing of WOFF compression on a random selection of some few 
hundred fonts indicated an average compression of about 50%. This 
in-format compression is standard in all WOFF fonts, so content 
providers do not need to go through extra steps (server-side 
compression) to ensure the fastest possible downloads.


14. Will WOFF replace other formats?

WOFF is not expected to replace other, desktop font formats such as 
TrueType, OpenType, Open Font Format, or the Web SVG font format 
(although it may render the latter unnecessary). WOFF provides a 
Web-specific compressed delivery formant. A font vendor may offer the 
same font in OpenType for desktop/print use, and in WOFF for Web use; 
each with the appropriate license.


15. Will WOFF work on mobile devices?

Mobile devices use the same technology stack (HTML, CSS, SVG, 
JavaScript) as desktop devices so the benefits will apply to mobile as 
well. Many mobile devices ships with very few fonts, perhaps making WOFF 
even more interesting for those platforms.


16. Where can I learn more about WOFF?

See W3C’s page about fonts on the Web as well as the home page of the 
WebFonts Working Group for more information. The current status of 
specifications related to fonts is also available.

_____

Received on Wednesday, 9 March 2011 04:34:36 UTC