The problem with icon fonts

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Matera the Mad

The problem with icon fonts

Unread post by Matera the Mad » 2015-06-11, 19:31

I frequently complain about embedded icon fonts. Most people have no idea what I'm talking about, for two reasons: 1. They accept their browser's default font settings. 2. They don't know or care where the little eye-cons come from.

It matters to me because I have moderate visual impairment that has forced me to learn how to make reading web pages more comfortable. Serif fonts are headache-makers. To avoid painful eyestrain and read faster, I set my browsers to use only sans-serif fonts. To make sure websites can't override my preferences, I always un-tick the "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above" box in the Advanced font settings.

And there's the problem. With the override off, the rapidly increasing use of embedded fonts results in a frustrating array of mystery-meat rectangles instead of icons. With the override on, I will run into entire sites that are nearly impossible to read.

Please read this article:
https://css-tricks.com/icon-fonts-vs-svg/

Image
I love Palemoon, but when I see those horrid things on its start page, I want to cry.

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Moonchild
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Re: The problem with icon fonts

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-06-11, 20:51

I'm not happy about fonts being used for icon glyphs either, but that is simply the current state of the web. It indeed has a number of (sometimes severe) drawbacks that outweigh the advantages.

If it bothers you, though, you always have the option on the Pale Moon start page to sign up for an account and to change all the icons that are font glyphs with whichever image you prefer. This means you aren't forced to look at them even if you disable downloadable fonts - such is the advantage of the new portal :)

As an aside, the Discover pane is the only pane I didn't craft myself and just adopted from the offer made by me for a quick addition by the start.me people.
I can see about making it more accessible by changing the icons to bitmaps (I don't think the portal supports SVG at this time).

EDIT: actually, SVG is supported by them.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

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Moonchild
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Re: The problem with icon fonts

Unread post by Moonchild » 2015-07-19, 15:24

v25.6 should provide a proper solution for this - allowing user-defined text fonts to coexist with icon fonts.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

Terryphi

Re: The problem with icon fonts

Unread post by Terryphi » 2015-08-28, 09:39

Moonchild wrote:v25.6 should provide a proper solution for this - allowing user-defined text fonts to coexist with icon fonts.
I have recently discovered Pale Moon and installed v25.7. The fix is brilliant. :) This issue really annoys me when using Firefox.

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