WOFF, the web standard for type
Jonathan Kew, Tal Leming, and Erik van Blokland have revised their earlier WebOTF proposal and are calling it WOFF.
This is a web standard for typefaces. In a nutshell, it explains that a WOFF font file is “simply a repackaged version” of font files like TrueType, OpenType, and Open Font Format, compressed and designed primarily for use on the web.
WOFF files would consist of two basic parts: typeface data and XML-based metadata. Most of the proposed specification explains the guidelines by which this information should be organized, compressed, uncompressed, and reorganized.
Worth noting is that this proposal is concise, focusing on the integrity of font data and clarifying that special features are outside of its scope.
WOFF encoding tools (and web services that produce WOFF files) may add features like glyph subsetting and validation but, “must assure that the validity of the underlying font data is preserved.” Presumably, tools and services of a different scope may reference the XML portion of WOFF files for license enforcement.
Judging by the wisdom evident in this proposal and the reception its predecessor enjoyed, I believe this is the font format future to which we can look forward.
