Question

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CSS @font-face – what does “src: local('☺')” mean?

Hi,

I came across this article – Bulletproof @font-face syntax

http://paulirish.com/2009/bulletproof-font-face-implementation-syntax/

Here is the syntax of bulletproof,

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Graublau Web';
  src: url('GraublauWeb.eot');
  src: local('☺'),
         url('GraublauWeb.otf') format('opentype');
}

but I don’t understand what he says about the smiley face in the local(). What does it mean? Is it a standdard which is supported across browsers, PCs and Apples? Can I put something else in?

Here is what he explains,

Added 2010.02.04: There has been
concern over specifying local font
names. The primary reason is that you
cede control to the user’s machine,
potentially showing a locally
installed font instead of the one you
want to serve. While that will load
faster, there’s a very small chance
the file could be wrong.

To account for this gotcha, I’ve
specified a local font name of ‘☺’.
Yes, it’s a smiley face. The OpenType
spec indicates any two-byte unicode
characters won’t work in a font name
on Mac at all, so that lessens the
likelihood that someone actually
released a font with such a name. This
technique is recommended if you think
a locally installed version of this
font is not in your best interest.

thanks.

Answer 1

The smiley is used as the name of a font that cannot possibly exist (or is, at least, extremely unlikely) so that a local font that happens to have the same name as the desired fony will not be used