DRAFT WebFonts Working Group Charter
+ + + +The mission of the Web Fonts Working Group is to develop specifications that allow the interoperable deployment of downloadable fonts on the Web.
+ + + + + +This proposed charter is available + on GitHub. + + Feel free to raise issues. +
+ +| + Charter Status + | ++ See the group status page and detailed change history. + | +
|---|---|
| + Start date + | ++ [dd monthname yyyy] (date of the "Call for Participation", when the charter is approved) + | +
| + End date + | ++ [dd monthname yyyy] (Start date + 2 years) + | +
| + Chairs + | +
+ Vladimir Levantovsky (W3C Invited Experts) + Garret Rieger (Google) + |
+
| + Team Contacts + | ++ Chris Lilley (0.14 FTE) + | +
| + Meeting Schedule + | +
+ Teleconferences: 1-hour calls will be held weekly or as needed
+ + Face-to-face: we will meet during the W3C's annual Technical Plenary week; additional face-to-face meetings may be scheduled by consent of the participants, usually no more than 3 per year. + |
+
Motivation and Background
++ The Web Fonts WG is developing a technology, + Incremental Font Transfer, + whereby the client loads only the portion(s) of the font that they + actually need, significantly reducing data transfer. Multiple incremental + additions to the same font are possible, such as a user agent updating + a font as a user browses multiple pages. + This is especially helpful for languages with large character repertoires, + such as Chinese and Japanese. + Incremental transfer improves on unicode-range by avoiding damage to + layout (kerning, ligatures, etc) rules, meaning it can efficiently + support fine grained increments to Latin and to complex scripts + like Indic or Arabic. + Incremental fonts can be deployed as static files to any standard HTTP server. +
+Scope
+The Web Fonts WG develops Recommendation-track specifications for Incremental Font Transfer as listed under deliverables; tracks emerging implementations, and maintains communications with the typography, Web design and implementor communities. +
Maintenance updates to the WOFF 1 and WOFF 2 specifications are also in scope.
+ +Out of Scope
+The following features are out of scope, and will not be addressed by this Working group.
+ +-
+
- Changes to the Open Font Format or OpenType specifications +
+ Deliverables +
+ +Updated document status is available on the group publication status page.
+ +Draft state indicates the state of the deliverable at the time of the charter approval. Expected completion indicates when the deliverable is projected to become a Recommendation, or otherwise reach a stable state.
+ ++ Normative Specifications +
++ The Working Group will deliver the following W3C normative specifications: +
+ +-
+
- Incremental Font Transfer +
-
+
This specification defines a method to incrementally transfer fonts from server to client. Incremental transfer allows clients to load only the portions of the font they actually need which speeds up font loads and reduces data transfer needed to load the fonts. A font can be loaded over multiple requests where each request incrementally adds additional data.
+Draft state: Working Draft
+Expected completion: Q2 2026
+Latest publication: 2024-07-09
+Exclusion Draft: +https://www.w3.org/TR/2021/WD-IFT-20210907/
+
+Exclusion period +began on 2021-09-07 and +ended on 2022-02-04. +Exclusion Draft Charter: Produced under Working Group Charter: + https://www.w3.org/2020/12/web-fonts-wg-charter.html +
+
+
In addition, the Working Group maintains the following W3C normative specifications:
+ +-
+
- WOFF File Format 1.0 +
-
+
WOFF provides lightweight, easy-to-implement compression of font data for use with CSS @font-face.
+Latest publication: 2012-12-13
+
+ - WOFF File Format 2.0 +
-
+
Based on experience with WOFF 1.0, which is widely deployed, this specification was developed to provide improved compression and thus lower use of network bandwidth, while still allowing fast decompression even on mobile devices. This is achieved by combining a content-aware preprocessing step and improved entropy coding, compared to the Flate compression used in WOFF 1.0.
+Latest publication: 2024-08-08
+
+
+ Other Deliverables +
++ Other non-normative documents may be created such as: +
+-
+
- Use case and requirement documents; +
- Test suite and implementation report for the specifications; +
- Primer or Best Practice documents to support web developers when designing applications. +
Success Criteria
+ + +In order to advance beyond + Candidate Recommendation, each normative specification is expected to have + at least two independent interoperable + implementations of every feature defined in the specification, where +interoperability can be verified by passing open test suites.
+There should be testing plans for each specification, starting from the earliest drafts.
++ To promote interoperability, all changes made to specifications + in Candidate Recommendation + or to features that have deployed implementations + should have tests. + Testing efforts should be conducted via the Web Platform Tests project.
+ + + +Each specification should contain separate sections detailing all known security and + privacy implications for implementers, Web authors, and end users.
+ ++ Each specification should contain a section on accessibility that describes the benefits and impacts, including ways specification features can be used to address them, and + recommendations for maximising accessibility in implementations.
+ + +This Working Group expects to follow the + TAG Web Platform Design Principles. +
+ + + +Coordination
+For all specifications, this Working Group will seek horizontal review for + accessibility, internationalization, privacy, and security with the relevant Working and + Interest Groups, and with the TAG. + Invitation for review must be issued during each major standards-track document transition, including + FPWD. The + Working Group is encouraged to engage collaboratively with the horizontal review groups throughout development of + each specification. The Working Group is advised to seek a review at least 3 months before first entering + CR and is encouraged + to proactively notify the horizontal review groups when major changes occur in a specification following a review.
+ +Additional technical coordination with the following Groups will be made, per the W3C Process Document:
+ +W3C Groups
+-
+
- CSS Working Group +
- The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Working Group maintains CSS Fonts, which defines the WebFont linking mechanism. +
External Organizations
+-
+
- ISO/IEC JTC1 SC29/WG11 + +
- The Web Fonts WG will, if needed, coordinate with SC29/WG11 regarding + the Open Font Format (OpenType) specification. Changes to Open Font + Format (OpenType) are out of scope of the WebFonts WG, although + requirements may be communicated to SC29/WG11 if needed via the existing + Class C liaison between W3C and SC29. +
+ Participation +
++ To be successful, this Working Group is expected to have 6 or more active participants for its duration, including representatives from the key implementors of this specification, and active Editors and Test Leads for each specification. The Chairs, specification Editors, and Test Leads are expected to contribute half of a working day per week towards the Working Group. There is no minimum requirement for other Participants. +
++ The group encourages questions, comments and issues on its public mailing lists and document repositories, as described in Communication. +
++ The group also welcomes non-Members to contribute technical submissions for consideration upon their agreement to the terms of the W3C Patent Policy. +
+Participants in the group are required (by the W3C Process) to follow the + W3C Code of Conduct.
++ Communication +
++ Technical discussions for this Working Group are conducted in public: the meeting minutes from teleconference and face-to-face meetings will be archived for public review, and technical discussions and issue tracking will be conducted in a manner that can be both read and written to by the general public. Working Drafts and Editor's Drafts of specifications will be developed in public repositories and may permit direct public contribution requests. + The meetings themselves are not open to public participation, however. +
++ Information about the group (including details about deliverables, issues, actions, status, participants, and meetings) will be available from the WebFonts Working Group home page. +
++ Most WebFonts Working Group teleconferences will focus on discussion of particular specifications, and will be conducted on an as-needed basis. +
++ This group primarily conducts its technical work on GitHub issues. + The public is invited to review, discuss and contribute to this work. +
++ The group may use a Member-confidential mailing list for administrative purposes and, at the discretion of the Chairs and members of the group, for member-only discussions in special cases when a participant requests such a discussion. +
++ Decision Policy +
++ This group will seek to make decisions through consensus and due process, per the W3C Process Document (section 5.2.1, Consensus). Typically, an editor or other participant makes an initial proposal, which is then refined in discussion with members of the group and other reviewers, and consensus emerges with little formal voting being required.
++ However, if a decision is necessary for timely progress and consensus is not achieved after careful consideration of the range of views presented, the Chairs may call for a group vote and record a decision along with any objections. +
++ To afford asynchronous decisions and organizational deliberation, any resolution (including publication decisions) taken in a face-to-face meeting or teleconference will be considered provisional. + + A call for consensus (CfC) will be issued for all resolutions (for example, via email, GitHub issue or web-based survey), with a response period from one week to 10 working days, depending on the chair's evaluation of the group consensus on the issue. + + If no objections are raised by the end of the response period, the resolution will be considered to have consensus as a resolution of the Working Group. +
++ All decisions made by the group should be considered resolved unless and until new information becomes available or unless reopened at the discretion of the Chairs. +
++ This charter is written in accordance with the W3C Process Document (Section 5.2.3, Deciding by Vote) and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires. +
++ Patent Policy +
++ This Working Group operates under the W3C Patent Policy (Version of 15 September 2020). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Web specifications that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis. + + For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see the licensing information. +
+Licensing
+This Working Group will use the W3C Software and Document license for all its deliverables.
++ About this Charter +
++ This charter has been created according to section 3.4 of the Process Document. In the event of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence. +
+ ++ Charter History +
+ +The following table lists details of all changes from the initial charter, per the W3C Process Document (section 4.3, Advisory Committee Review of a Charter):
+ +| + Charter Period + | ++ Start Date + | ++ End Date + | ++ Changes + | +
|---|---|---|---|
| + Initial Charter, WOFF 1.0 + | ++ 17 Mar 2010 + | ++ 31 March 2012 + | ++ none + | +
| + Charter Extension + | ++ 29 May 2012 + | ++ 30 Sep 2012 + | ++ none + | +
| + Rechartered + | ++ 24 Oct 2012 + | ++ 31 May 2015 + | +
+ Investigation of + improved font compression schemes for WOFF, and a new Recommendation-track + deliverable, WOFF 2.0 + |
+
| + Charter Extension + | ++ 8 Apr 2015 + | ++ 31 May 2017 + | ++ none + | +
| + Charter Extension + | ++ 10 Jul 2017 + | ++ 31 Aug 2017 + | ++ none + | +
| + Charter Extension + | ++ 11 Jan 2018 + | ++ 30 Apr 2018 + | ++ none + | +
| + Rechartered + | ++ 13 Dec 2018 + | ++ 13 Sept 2022 + | +
+ Investigation of progressive font enrichment options,
+ and a new Recommendation-track deliverable
+ for the chosen solution. + 2020-11-10: Garret Rieger (Google) appointed as group co-chair. + |
+
| Rechartered | +15 December 2020 | +13 September 2022 | +New Patent Policy. + 2021-01-28: Vladimir Levantovsky (W3C Invited Experts) re-appointed as group co-chair |
+
| Extended | +21 November 2022 | +15 March 2023 | +none | +
| Rechartered | +28 March 2023 | +28 March 2025 | +Update to latest charter template. | +
| This draft charter | +[dd monthname yyyy] (date of the "Call for Participation", when the charter is approved) | +[dd monthname yyyy] (Start date + 2 years) | +none | +
Change log
+ + +Changes to this document are documented in this section.
+ +