[thelist] Font embedding

[Francois Jordaan]

For the first time in quite a while, I've encountered a client who is
adamant about embedding their corporate font in their (HTML-based) website.

So what exactly is the deal with font embedding on websites? It was a hot
topic around 3 years ago (all tutorials [1] and demos [2] seem to date from
around then), but since then appears to have fizzled out. But given that it
is possible, why is no-one doing it? Are the main problems technical, legal,
or something else?

[1]
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/fonts/tutorials/tutorial2.html
[2] http://www.microsoft.com/typography/web/embedding/default.htm

There were some competing solutions, but post-browser wars it seems
Microsoft's WEFT + OpenType, not requiring a plugin or ActiveX control, has
emerged as the leader. It's supported by IE4+, and according to a
colleague's tests, also by NN7+. Unsure about Mozilla or the Mac situation.

Here are my usual arguments against font embedding:
1. No across-the-board support. (But I don't know the exact facts)
2. If it's not supported, a standard font would be displayed, which would
look worse than if a GIF was used instead -- for large headings, say. (But
GIFs have their own drawbacks.)
3. Extra download time to download ~40kb font data. (But that's not too big
a deal.)
4. Under 20px in size, a font bears little resemblance to its
high-resolution appearance. And special fonts are unlikely to be as well
hinted for aliased display as fonts designed for on-screen reading like
Verdana. (But for 20+px headlines, they should look OK.)

So why is no-one doing it? Anything I should be aware of?

francois

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