Re: Webfonts in Opera 10

John Daggett wrote:
>> Note that browsers should accept format("opentype") in connection with
>> both .otf and .ttf fonts, and format("truetype") in connection with
>> .ttf fonts. Of course, I believe that attribute should be optional.
> 
> Right, it's really just a hint to allow user agents to skip fonts in
> formats they don't support.
> 
> It might make sense to add "opentype-cff", since underlying platform
> support for these fonts is not as universal as fonts that use
> TrueType-format glyphs (.ttf).  It's too bad the support for .otf fonts
> is somewhat spotty, many of these .otf fonts are wonderful,
> typographically rich fonts.

Well, I believe that if a user agent does not support* OpenType
(meaning: both flavors), it may just generally choose to skip fonts
tagged "opentype". I don't think there is a need for further specification.

Also, are there really any significant platforms that do not support the
.otf flavor of OpenType in terms of plain glyph display?

*) Here, by "support" I primarily mean the basic ability to render
glyphs from a font in a certain format. Advanced OpenType Layout
features required for complex script rendering or stylistic typographic
effects are a different issue — and if a platform has limited support
for them, it usually equally affects both flavors.

E.g. I don't know of a platform that would support OpenType-based Indic
shaping but would not display .otf at all -- but I must admit that my
knowledge of mobile platforms is limited.

It is worth remembering that it's OpenType as a whole, and not just the
TrueType flavor, that has become international standard ISO/IEC
14496-22. Of course, TrueType is 20 years old and OpenType is just 10
years old -- but still, if there are still platforms out there that
cannot provide basic rendering of both OpenType flavors, I consider it a
temporary limitation that will be fixed anytime soon.

Adam

-- 

Adam Twardoch
| Language Typography Unicode Fonts OpenType
| twardoch.com | silesian.com | fontlab.net

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or
insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
(Hunter S. Thompson)

Received on Friday, 5 December 2008 01:40:46 UTC