WOFF Fonts in CSS

Introduction to WOFF Format

Whenever a web designer aims to create a better and more attractive design, the user experience is also improved. One of the factors that contributes to the attractiveness of design is the use of diverse and suitable fonts through CSS. The better that fonts are utilized, the more likely they are to be efficient and standardized. This is where the WOFF format comes into play. The Web Open Font Format, or simply WOFF, is actually a standard for using web fonts in a way that is efficient and works well, introduced by W3C.

One major difference that WOFF has with other font formats is its compression, which helps fonts to load faster and consequently increases the loading speed of web pages. These include TrueType (.ttf) and OpenType (.otf) fonts that have been converted to WOFF format.

Why Use WOFF?

Using the WOFF format has various reasons and advantages. Perhaps the most important advantage is the very good support by browsers for this format; most browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge can provide support for this format. Additionally, due to its compression, the time it takes to load fonts is reduced, which is particularly important for mobile devices and the internet.

How to Use WOFF in CSS

To use WOFF fonts in CSS, you first need to add the font file to your project and then use @font-face to utilize it. Here’s a simple example for using a WOFF font:

@font-face {
  font-family: 'MyWebFont';
  src: url('my-webfont.woff') format('woff');
}
body {
  font-family: 'MyWebFont', sans-serif;
}

Explanation of the Code Above

@font-face
This CSS rule is used to define a font that can thereafter be used in other elements.

font-family: 'MyWebFont';
Here, a name is provided for the defined font that can be used elsewhere.

src: url('my-webfont.woff') format('woff');
This specifies the URL of the WOFF file we want to load and indicates the type of format is "woff".

body {
font-family: 'MyWebFont', sans-serif;
}
In this section, we apply the defined font to the body element along with a fallback font for emergencies.