Google Fonts aren’t inherently supported by your operating system, so by definition, they aren’t web safe fonts. Because nearly 70% of consumers say page speed influences their purchasing decisions. So, switching to web safe fonts can speed up your website. In addition, if you choose to use and host a custom local font, or font hosted by a third party, it can slow down your website. So if you design a website with a font only supported by the newest version of Windows 10, most users will see something else. In fact, supported fonts vary based on the operating systems, including the current version a user has. But that doesn’t mean web safe fonts are a thing of the past. Sure, the vast majority of users now use Google Chrome, both on mobile and desktop. Are Web Safe Fonts Necessary? Browser market share 2019-2020 (Image source: StatCounter) The operating system automatically includes the font files, so visitors don’t have to download fonts from your servers.Īn example is the ubiquitous Arial font that birthed thousands of “spin-offs”. Including variations, there are over 650,000 different fonts available online. Fonts that are supported by the majority of web browsers and operating systems are considered to be web safe.
