Can someone explain what the use-cases for author control are? I am very skeptical that author hints such as a suggested timeout will be used correctly by the majority of authors who try to use them. Experience suggests that authors will choose a hint value that works well for them but poorly for users in other conditions. If that happens, I wouldn't even bother implementing support for the hint. So far I think the behaviour should be entirely UA-dependent. But I also think it would be good to have a discussion right here and now about what a good default policy would be. A good policy might involve more than just a single timeout. E.g. 1) Display nothing for the first two seconds while the font is downloading. 2) If the font still isn't available, estimate the remaining time required to finish downloading; if it's more than two seconds, show fallback text until the font has finished downloading. 3) Otherwise, show nothing for three more seconds while the font is downloading. If the font still hasn't finished downloading, show fallback text until it finishes downloading. (The idea is that if you can accurately estimate download rates, you can avoid ever showing fallback text and then immediately switching to the correct font.) Rob -- "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." [Acts 17:11]
Received on Wednesday, 20 October 2010 21:37:29 UTC