Perfect junction of characters (blue lettering below) thanks to context-based
replacement in Firefox 4.
The current beta version of Firefox 4 offers access to this OpenType feature
for the first time. For the time being it can be defined with this browser
specific attribute:
h1 {
-moz-font-feature-settings:՚smcp=1′;
}This example will display the headline in true small caps provided that the
font does have a small-caps case. A list with common OpenType features
can be found at Microsoft՚s Web site.
So far, there are no standards to address these features in your CSS style
sheets, but the CSS Fonts Module Level 3 draft mentions this possibility
already. Other browser companies will most likely follow this example
sooner or later.
Browser developers still have a long way to go until the web can catch up
with text layout in print design or even overtake it. It‘s, however, good to
know that there is a growing awareness for such typographic subtleties
among browser manufacturers so that further progress can be expected
pretty soon.