We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Software

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is an HTML Font Face?

By Eugene P.
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 12,027
Share

In the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the term "font face" can mean one of two things. It can refer to the face property of the font tag, which is used to define the type of font in which the enclosed text will be displayed. Alternately, it also can refer to the cascading style sheet (CSS) selector font-face, which allows a convenient method for incorporating custom or rare fonts into a website. As of the HTML 4.0 language specification, however, the face property of the font tag has been depreciated, meaning that it will still be rendered by a web browser but a CSS alternative should be used instead.

The HTML font face is used as a property of the font tag itself to specify which font should be used to render the text enclosed inside the opening and closing font tags. Any font can be specified in this way, although it will only be properly displayed if the user has the exact named font already on his computer. If a user does not have the named HTML font face on his local hard drive, then the browser will default to a standard font.

This problem of missing fonts can be mitigated in one of two ways, the first being to only use one of a small series of fonts that come standard with nearly every operating system, ensuring that the font will be displayed correctly. The second option is to use a feature of the HTML font face property that allows listing more than one font as a value, separated by commas. Using a list of fonts with the face property will cause the browser to attempt to load each font in sequence, moving on to the next one if the current font fails to load. This provides a more controlled method of designing a webpage that can remove completely unexpected results.

When the HTML font face property was depreciated, it was replaced with a CSS version. The correct way to specify a font through CSS is to use a style and the font-family property, which functions in an almost identical way to the HTML font face property. Even though the HTML tag property is depreciated, browsers still should support the feature for the sake of backward compatibility.

Through CSS, an HTML font face also can refer to a selector that can be used to load custom fonts from the web server so users can see the page correctly without the need to have the font ahead of time. This selector gives designers a way to specify a font file that is then downloaded and displayed on web browsers that require it. Like many CSS elements, however, some compatibility issues are present between the different browser implementations.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-an-html-font-face.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.