Recent technologies allow for the embedding of fonts into a website. This allows for styling of your web pages in ways that once were only available in printed media or by using images. Embedding the font of your liking can give you a look you are after and still allow the search engines and accessibility readers to access the content of your website. There might be a slight decrease in speed of the loading of your pages and you also may have extra costs associated with using specified webfonts, but there are many choices of free services that widen the possibilities for presentation on your web pages. Did you know that you are reading an embedded font right now? Here are some options you can take advantage of:
Embed Fonts from a Font Service
This is the easiest way to use embedded webfonts. Google Webfonts offers a large selection of fonts that you can embed either directly from their servers or from your own website. These are currently offered at no charge. There are paid services such as those offered by Fonts.Com or TypeKit.
Embed Fonts from Font Files Within Your Own Website
Websentia can convert your fonts (if not restricted by copyright) to embeddable webfonts or you may use the online webfont generator service available at FontSquirrel.Com. (They also ask that you affirm that there are no restrictions of use on the fonts you choose to convert.) When you use you own downloaded or converted files from within your own website, you avoid any downtime or slow response from other servers that are outside your site. This method is a little more painstaking and may add to your initial costs but offers the most control and safety from unforeseen service failures.
MyFonts.Com offers fonts and embeddable webfonts for sale from a number of vendors. Oftentimes, these webfonts are really “leased” for a specified number of page views (either total page views or page views per month). Please read carefully the usage stipulations when you purchase a font to use in a website. If you have questions, please contact us and we may be able to clarify your issues.