WebspaceWorks Resources
In Fonts and Web Typography
- Legally Get Vista Fonts from Microsoft, No License Required
- Font Families & Web-safe Fonts: The Point of Penultimate Resort
- Visual reference to 19 fonts for cross-platform web design
- Fonts for web design: further comparison of cross-platform dependability
- Aspect values and x-widths for fonts
- Reliability of “Web–safe” fonts
Visual reference to 19 fonts for cross-platform web design
Articles examining reliability of fonts for web use and providing cross-platform comparison tables presented the statistical background to selecting fonts for use in websites, but without any visual reference to the fonts themselves. Other external resources provide visual examples of the “safe” set of 9, but often lack them for the equivalent or most commonly available fonts on the unix platform. This article provides visual reference to both the safe set of 9, plus the most commonly reported fonts in use on unix systems. A total of 19 fonts are presented.
The “Web-safe” fonts
These fonts are the commonly accepted set of 9 “safe” fonts for use in web design. While common on both Windows and Macintosh platforms where they were provided with the Internet Explorer web browser, they are far from being either common or “safe” on unix platforms. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Arial (sans-serif), 14pt
Arial Black (sans-serif), 14pt
Comic Sans MS (sans-serif/cursive), 14pt
Courier New (monospace), 14pt
Georgia (serif), 14pt
Impact (sans-serif), 14pt
Times New Roman (serif), 14pt
Trebuchet MS (sans-serif), 14pt
Verdana (sans-serif), 14pt
Additional fonts (for unix)
The following fonts are those that are commonly available on unix platforms, and in some cases the Mac as well, but which are often rare or even absent on Windows. They are therefore not “safe” for general deployment in web design, but are useful inclusions in definitions of font-families that are expected to work well fully cross-platform. Again, listed in alphabetical order.
Bitstream Vera Sans (sans-serif), 14pt
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono (monospace), 14pt
Bitstream Vera Serif (serif), 14pt
Century Schoolbook (serif), 14pt
Courier (monospace), 14pt
Helvetica (sans-serif), 14pt
Times (serif), 14pt
URW Grotesk T (sans-serif), 14pt
Utopia Std (serif), 14pt
The odd one
This last one is something of an oddity, not being really common (according to available font statistics) on any platform. It is however mentioned in at least one source as among the commonly available fonts and is included here on the possibly dubious strength of that reference. Look at the stats and reach your own conclusions.
Andale Mono (monospace), 14pt
What to draw from this
With this reference and the statistical data provided in the linked articles it is not difficult to create font-families in css that will degrade gracefully across all platforms. Many fonts from the unix side offer good alternatives to the members of the “Set of Nine” where those fonts are unavailable, and in the case of Helvetica and Times are directly equivalent to Arial and Times New Roman respectively.
