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Helvetica displays Arial on Windows

On my site http://helvetitee.com I have the following font stack:

font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, nimbus-sans;

Nimbus Sans (web font) is retrieved from TypeKit.

On Windows computers, regardless of browser, the user displays Arial. It seems that Helvetica is rendered as Arial Windows instead of returning to the halo (which is a Helvetica clone and therefore preferable to Arial).

Is there a way, in addition to sniffing the OS, to prevent this? Is this a known issue? It seems like there is simply freedom for Windows to just accept showing Arial instead of Helvetica.

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5 answers

Windows replaces Arial for Helvetica. (In particular, Helvetica, not Helvetica Neue.) An easy way to see this is to declare font-family: Helvetica, Courier . Then, browsers on Windows platforms use Arial, not Courier (as they should).

This can be changed by editing the Windows registry, but as a web author, you can not do anything about it (except trying to sniff the OS through a browser bypass). This is an old problem (it seems to me that applies to Windows 3), although it is not very widely known.

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On Windows, none of these fonts exist, but smart enough to use the default sans-serif font, which is arial.

an Internet-friendly alternative would be something like a font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;

as for using webfont, fonts.com has a Helvetica Neue 45 Light that you could embed.

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Yes, the Windows registry in its default configuration replaces Arial for Helvetica, and this substitution takes precedence over backing up fonts in every major browser except Opera. Therefore, most Windows users will see Arial instead of Helvetica, unless Helvetica precedes in the font stack on

  • web font or
  • An alternative font that is reliably present on Windows systems. In my stack, similar to the Helvetica font , I propose the Google web font "Arimo". Among the standard Windows fonts, Microsoft Sans Serif is a good replacement for Helvetica for the vertical type, but unbearable for the italic type.
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As far as I know, Windows does not come with Helvetica (or any member of its family), and if it is not an installed font, it will not work on the website.

Arial is considered Helvetica's egregious rupture (although it was based on Monotype Grotesque, it is considered an alternative to Helvetica), so Microsoft doesn't have to pay huge Haas Typefoundry licensing fees (creators and licensors of the Helvetica family)

My suggestion is to try webfonts with which you can actually embed fonts. Font Squirrel is a good place to start. (although keep in mind that investing in a Helvetica Neue without a license is technically a violation.)

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The best font stack between browsers and devices, I think

 body { font-family: "HelveticaNeue-Light", "Helvetica Neue Light", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-weight: 300; }

Also use

 body { font-family: sans-serif }

before your font stacks are overwritten by default.

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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/925585/

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