Deploying web fonts responsibly

@font-face makes custom type practical across current browsers, but format support, licensing, rendering and download behaviour must be addressed before replacing established system text.

Confirm licensing and source quality

Obtain a licence that permits web embedding and retain original font files from an authorised source. Do not convert a desktop licence through an online generator without checking its embedding terms.

Provide the required formats

Generate WOFF for current browsers and the additional EOT, TrueType or SVG formats required by the documented support matrix. Keep family, weight and style metadata consistent so browsers do not synthesise unexpected faces.

Subset deliberately

Remove unused character ranges only when the supported languages and editorial needs are known. Retain punctuation, currency, accented characters and symbols required by real content, and test dynamic user-entered text.

Design the fallback stack

Choose system fonts with similar proportions and acceptable readability. Test the page while font files are delayed or blocked so headings, controls and navigation remain legible and do not overlap.

Control requests and cache

Limit the number of families and weights, serve compressed font files with long-lived caching and verify cross-origin headers when assets use a separate host. Measure first and repeat visits over a cold connection.