Optimizing Font Loading

Web fonts make websites beautiful and unique, but they can also be a major source of performance bottlenecks. Large font files mean longer download times, which directly impacts your site's overall speed and user experience.

Slow font loading can lead to issues like 'Flash of Unstyled Text' (FOUT) or 'Flash of Invisible Text' (FOIT). In this lesson, we'll learn practical techniques to load fonts efficiently.

The font-display CSS property gives you control over how web fonts load and display. It tells the browser what strategy to use while a font is still downloading, helping to prevent jarring visual shifts.

• auto: The browser's default behavior.
• block: Short block period (invisible text), then infinite swap.
• swap: Very short block period (invisible text), then infinite swap.
• fallback: Very short block, then short swap, then permanent fallback.
• optional: Very short block, no swap, permanent fallback.