Font fallback should allow selection of a Nastaliq font

[r12a]

This issue is applicable to Urdu, Kashmiri, and other Arabic script orthographies.

Languages such as Urdu and Kashmiri are written in a nastaliq style of Arabic, and authors will typically want any font fallback to select another nastaliq font, rather than a naskh or other font.

More:

• Arabic & Persian Layout Requirements
• Urdu (Nastaliq Arabic) Orthography Notes/Font styles
• Nastaliq system fonts

The GAP

Currently there is no way to tell the browser to fall back to a nastaliq font, rather than a naskh or other font.

Neither Gecko, Blink, nor Webkit support this. Before they can, CSS needs to provide a way for authors to indicate that a nastaliq generic font should be used.

Priority

This is a high priority for languages such as Urdu and Kashmiri, where nastaliq fonts are the norm, and incorrect substitutions may cause readability and cultural issues. It is also a useful feature for other languages, such as Persian or Kurdish, where nastaliq styles may be used for certain types of text.

Tests & results

Interactive test, font-family:generic(nastaliq) will apply a nastaliq font in Urdu

Action taken

Discussion document: Generic font families

CSS discussion threads:

• Specify what generic font family maps to nastaliq

Bug reports:
Gecko • Blink • Webkit

Outcomes

The CSS Fonts 4 spec now defines a generic(ident) syntax which will be used for newly-introduced, and especially for script-specific, generics.

generic(nastaliq) has been added as one of the generic family names.

Browsers are not yet supporting that.