- From: Levantovsky, Vladimir <Vladimir.Levantovsky@MonotypeImaging.com>
- Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:38:17 -0500
- To: John Hudson <tiro@tiro.com>, "public-webfonts-wg@w3.org" <public-webfonts-wg@w3.org>
- CC: Chris Lilley <chris@w3.org>
John, Thank you very much, the revised FAQ look very good. I'd suggest just a couple of nits to fix the typos: In part 2: ... it provides a Web-specific a delivery format ... One 'a' seem to be redundant, probably should say: it provides a Web-specific delivery format ... In part 14: typo - in "compressed delivery formant" - change to "compressed delivery format". In part 15: the sentence "Many mobile devices ships with very few fonts ..." should probably be saying " Many mobile devices ship with very few fonts ..." Note: part 10 would need to be updated as we finalize the text of the spec and publish it as a Candidate Recommendation. Thank you and regards, Vlad > -----Original Message----- > From: public-webfonts-wg-request@w3.org [mailto:public-webfonts-wg- > request@w3.org] On Behalf Of John Hudson > Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 11:34 PM > To: public-webfonts-wg@w3.org > Cc: Chris Lilley > Subject: 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 Friday, 11 March 2011 00:39:44 UTC