SleepyEgg

Web typography just got a shot in the arm from Google, as the company has announced a free, open-source library of 18 typefaces that Web designers will now have at their disposal. Google hosts all the fonts on its servers, and offers a simple Web-based API that handles all the browser differences behind the scenes. Furthermore, Web font service provider TypeKit has partnered with Google to offer an additional open-source JavaScript library called WebFont Loader for even more control over how fonts are loaded by the browser.

The state of the art in Web typography just a few years ago consisted of relying on a short list of "Web fonts" common to nearly every platform. Anything fancier required replacing text with images, which looked great but hampered usability, especially for those with disabilities. More advanced techniques came along, but they involved replacing the text with Flash or SVG graphics instead of static images.