Thread: @font-face

What is the @font-face method? How does it compete with Cufon, sIFR, and FLIR methods?

Is it the future of web?

There are many fonts to be used in different web designs; @font-face, Cufon, sIFR and FLIR are all different technologies representing various groups of developers who have different believes as what is going to be the future of the web typography. All the popular browsers support all of these techniques to various extends.

But, @font-face method is the most simple, strong and flexible of all the techniques. At present, it is the hottest technique, driving tech people as well as developers to go crazy and forcing lot of sites to show up with many free and sometimes premium fonts supporting @font‑face technique. This technique involves a few lines from CSS, you do not need to install any other tool but you will be writing very few lines from CSS.

The main issue is of cross compatibility among different browsers. Here @font-face method has an advantage over other techniques as it is compatible with nearly all major browsers. Internet Explorer only supports EOT, Mozilla browser supports OTF and TTF, Safari and Opera support OTF, TTF and SVG, and Chrome supports TTF and SVG. Moreover, mobile browsers like Safari on the iPod and iPhone require SVG. By using Paul Irish Bulletproof @face-font syntax you can use this technique in EOT, OTF, TTF and SVG.

I don’t think it can be the future of web as new technologies are emerging rapidly and there will definitely be something more powerful than @font-face method very soon.