Criteria for adding new generic font families

Note that this section is still under discussion, and not final.

Each newly proposed generic font family must pass a test to be considered as an addition to the specification. This test is necessary, but not sufficient, for its addition.

The purpose of this test is to limit the proliferation of generic font families.

1. There need to be at least two distinct typefaces in the world which can map to the generic font family. In this case, “distinct” requires that they are developed by different unaffiliated people or groups.
2. Because generic font families are only relevant for pre-installed fonts, at least two major platforms (operating systems with distinct GUIs) need to ship a font which would be mapped to this generic font family. Again, “distinct” requires that the platforms are maintained by different unaffiliated groups. The font shipped may be the same nevertheless.

Resources

• Windows 10
• macOS Mojave