Subject: Re: [Ltru] font features in CSS

From: "Doug Ewell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 20:00:16 -0700

Andrew Cunningham <lang dot support at gmail dot com> wrote:

>> b) There's a way in CSS to say: use "SRB" for this text. The selector 
>> part already exists, the question is just how to create the property 
>> part, and where to allow it (@font-face and/or general rules). This 
>> could look something like:
>> :lang(mk) { opentype-language-system: 'SRB' }
>>
>> ...
>
> I'd argue that b) is a better option. Its easy to see what language 
> systems individual fonts use, whereas c) is dependant on the web 
> browsers implementing very comprehensive data sets.

I'm no expert on this, which is probably obvious, but I'd be concerned 
about exposing CSS users to a "language system tags" mechanism which:

(a) sounds like it has something to do with "language tags," but 
doesn't,

(b) uses tag values which look like ISO 639 code elements or BCP 47 
tags, but aren't, and

(c) pertains to a specific font technology which is not a required part 
of CSS or HTML.

--
Doug Ewell  |  Thornton, Colorado, USA  |  http://www.ewellic.org
RFC 5645, 4645, UTN #14  |  ietf-languages @ http://is.gd/2kf0s