What is a web font?

In a nutshell, web fonts allow web designers to use fonts that are not installed on the viewer's computer.

Here is a complete list of fonts that are viewable on all devices including mobile.

1. Arial
2. Arial Black
3. Helvetica
4. Tahoma
5. Trebuchet MS
6. Verdana
7. Century Gothic
8. Geneva
9. Lucida, Lucida Sans, Lucida Console
10. Courier, Courier New
11. Georgia
12. Times New Roman
13. MS Serif
14. New York
15. Palatino, Palatino Linotype
16. Impact
17. Trebuchet MS

Good typography is key to any good design but when it comes to web sites, Arial will be a web designers new best friend.

Or will it?

Last year, a service called TypeKit was announced allowing design companies to license fonts, creating a way to embed fonts that would work across web browsers.

TypeKit has also partnered with Google Font API creating a loader that will give designers complete control over how fonts are loaded as well as access to Google’s own font library.

There are many hurdles with this process right now such as font foundries being cautious about having their hard work invested being displayed on open web servers but in a few more years designers can look forward to a wider palette of fonts in the future for those who are ready to take that next step.