Embedded Open Type (.eot) fonts

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Level 1

24 points

Embedded Open Type (.eot) fonts

On Windows, all current Web browsers - that is to say, Firefox 1.0 and 1.5, Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0, Netscape Browser 8.0, and Opera 9.0 - support Embedded Open Type (.eot) fonts which allow you to display custom fonts on any Website. On the Mac, neither Safari nor any other Web browser for Mac OS X support .eot fonts. I wonder why this important feature is neglected on the Mac.

The classic version of Internet Explorer 5.1 did support Embedded Open Type fonts, but the Mac OS X version of Internet Explorer 5.1 (which was never fully ported to Mac OS X) dropped this feature. Are there any plug-ins for Web browsers on the Mac which add this functionality? Are there any known plans to implement .eot fonts support in Safari or any other Web browser for Mac OS X?

Power Mac G4 Cube Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Feb 12, 2006 4:39 AM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,252 points

Feb 12, 2006 6:10 AM in response to Olaf Pluta

Are there any known plans to
implement .eot fonts support in Safari or any other
Web browser for Mac OS X?

I've never heard of any. .eot and other proprietary embedded font technology dates from the late 1990's and has still never really caught on much as far as I can tell. For one of its possible key uses, non-Latin scripts, it has been (or should soon be) replaced by the general adoption of Unicode fonts. I don't know if an open-source version of embedding has been developed.

I would be personally interested in examples of current day use of this on web sites if you have some.

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Answer 2

Olaf Pluta Author

Level 1

24 points

Feb 12, 2006 7:21 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Unfortunately, Unicode does not cover everything. For example, many glyphs that were used to abbreviate handwritten Latin texts during the Middle Ages did not make it into the Unicode tables so far. These glyphs can also be found in incunables, i.e. the earliest printed books up to the year 1500. The Medieval Unicode Font Initiative (MUFI) has prepared some recommendations to include at least the most important of these glyphs into Unicode.

I am currently using an Embedded Open Type (.eot) font for my online database of medieval Latin abbreviations. Point your Web browser at http://abbreviationes.net/ and have a look at the List View examples (superscript letters, inverted c). Not a single Web browser for Mac OS X displays this .eot font, but all current Web browsers for Windows XP do.

Power Mac G4 Cube Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Power Mac G4 Cube Mac OS X (10.4.4)

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,252 points

Feb 12, 2006 9:14 AM in response to Olaf Pluta

I am currently using an Embedded Open Type (.eot)
font for my online database of medieval Latin
abbreviations. Point your Web browser at
http://abbreviationes.net/ and have a look at the
List View examples (superscript letters, inverted c).
Not a single Web browser for Mac OS X displays this
.eot font, but all current Web browsers for Windows
XP do.

Thanks for the link!

Personally I think displaying things not in Unicode is not a good reason for supporting .eot, since it probably forces apps to break international standards and display a certain character when they should be displaying another. I would always recommend people use .pdf or graphics to do that.

.eot makes more sense if one is trying to convey a particular typographic style or quality, say for commercial reasons, though even for that .pdf is probably preferred, since .eot is not likely to ever be cross-platform, given the long time that has already passed without any progress in that direction.

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