Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty commissioned us to extend Skolar Sans to deliver their content in a number of different languages on all of their websites. The major challenge was to keep the file size small. On average, 95 responsive sites are accessed by 1.3 million users from 200 countries and territories daily.
About Skolar Sans for RFE/RL
Skolar Sans, with support for 72 styles and over 160 languages, is one of Rosetta’s flagship type families. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty commissioned us to extend Skolar Sans with the goal of delivering their content in a number of different languages on all of their newly redesigned websites. As RFE/RL broadcasts to many of the countries of the former Soviet Union, the extension included Slavic languages (e.g., Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Russian) as well as many Asian languages (e.g., Tajik and Uzbek) that use Cyrillic script. Greek script is also supported. The project is one of only a handful to support this many languages on the same CMS platform.
Brought to life by RFE/RL Design Director Kim Conger and Senior Designer Karel Knop, the platform, Pangea, supports RFE/RL websites as well as those for Voice of America, Middle East Broadcasting and Cuban Broadcasting. Altogether, 95 responsive sites are accessed by an average 1.3 million users from 200 countries and territories every day.
Caring about user experience means caring about website performance as well. With RFE/RL’s mission to broadcast to millions of users in many countries with slow or censored internet, this is especially pertinent. But keeping site loading speeds high and file sizes small imposes a strict limit on fonts. Rosetta’s designers David Březina and Sláva Jevčinová were faced with a double challenge: supporting a large number of languages in three different scripts, but keeping the file size of the resulting fonts small despite their comprehensiveness. In the end, Rosetta’s solution was to drastically reduce font file sizes from around 268KB each to a set of 33–40KB webfonts – the result of a tight collaboration between designers and engineers, and repeated testing.
Supported scripts and languages
Cyrillic
55 languages- Abaza
- Adyghe
- Aghul
- Andi
- Archi
- Avaric
- Bashkir
- Belarusian
- Bezhta
- Budukh
- Bulgarian
- Chamalal
- Chechen
- Chinese Buriat
- Chuvash
- Crimean Tatar
- Dargwa
- Dido
- Dungan
- Erzya
- Halh Mongolian
- Hunzib
- Ingush
- Judeo-Tat
- Kabardian
- Kalmyk
- Karachay-Balkar
- Karata
- Kazakh
- Khinalugh
- Kirghiz
- Komi-Permyak
- Komi-Zyrian
- Kumyk
- Lak
- Lezghian
- Macedonian
- Moksha
- Mongolian Buriat
- Montenegrin
- Muslim Tat
- Nogai
- Ossetian
- Russian
- Russian Buriat
- Rusyn
- Rutul
- Serbian
- Shughni
- Tabassaran
- Tajik
- Tatar
- Tsakhur
- Tuvinian
- Ukrainian
Greek
1 language- Modern Greek
Latin
339 languages- Acheron
- Achinese
- Achuar-Shiwiar
- Afar
- Afrikaans
- Aguaruna
- Amahuaca
- Amarakaeri
- Amis
- Andaandi, Dongolawi
- Anuta
- Ao Naga
- Apinayé
- Aragonese
- Arbëreshë Albanian
- Arvanitika Albanian
- Asháninka
- Ashéninka Perené
- Asturian
- Asu (Tanzania)
- Atayal
- Balinese
- Bari
- Basque
- Batak Dairi
- Batak Karo
- Batak Mandailing
- Batak Simalungun
- Batak Toba
- Bemba (Zambia)
- Bena (Tanzania)
- Bikol
- Bini
- Bislama
- Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo
- Bosnian
- Breton
- Buginese
- Candoshi-Shapra
- Caquinte
- Caribbean Hindustani
- Cashibo-Cacataibo
- Cashinahua
- Catalan
- Cebuano
- Central Aymara
- Central Kurdish
- Central Nahuatl
- Chachi
- Chamorro
- Chavacano
- Chiga
- Chiltepec Chinantec
- Chokwe
- Chuukese
- Cimbrian
- Cofán
- Congo Swahili
- Cook Islands Māori
- Cornish
- Corsican
- Creek
- Crimean Tatar
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dehu
- Dimli
- Dutch
- Eastern Abnaki
- Eastern Arrernte
- Eastern Oromo
- Embu
- English
- Ese Ejja
- Falam Chin
- Faroese
- Fijian
- Filipino
- Finnish
- French
- Friulian
- Gagauz
- Galician
- Ganda
- Garifuna
- Ga’anda
- German
- Gheg Albanian
- Gilbertese
- Gooniyandi
- Guadeloupean Creole French
- Gusii
- Gwichʼin
- Haitian
- Hakha Chin
- Hani
- Hawaiian
- Hiligaynon
- Ho-Chunk
- Hopi
- Huastec
- Hungarian
- Hän
- Icelandic
- Igbo
- Iloko
- Inari Sami
- Indonesian
- Irish
- Istro Romanian
- Italian
- Ixcatlán Mazatec
- Jamaican Creole English
- Japanese
- Javanese
- Jola-Fonyi
- K'iche'
- Kabuverdianu
- Kaingang
- Kala Lagaw Ya
- Kalaallisut
- Kalenjin
- Kamba (Kenya)
- Kaonde
- Kaqchikel
- Kara-Kalpak
- Karelian
- Kashubian
- Kekchí
- Kenzi, Mattokki
- Khasi
- Kikuyu
- Kimbundu
- Kinyarwanda
- Kirmanjki
- Kituba (DRC)
- Kongo
- Konzo
- Kuanyama
- Kven Finnish
- Kölsch
- Ladin
- Ladino
- Latgalian
- Latin
- Ligurian
- Lithuanian
- Lombard
- Low German
- Lower Sorbian
- Lozi
- Luba-Lulua
- Lule Sami
- Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)
- Luxembourgish
- Macedo-Romanian
- Madurese
- Makhuwa
- Makhuwa-Meetto
- Makonde
- Makwe
- Malagasy
- Malaysian
- Maltese
- Manx
- Maore Comorian
- Maori
- Mapudungun
- Marshallese
- Matsés
- Mauritian Creole
- Megleno Romanian
- Meriam Mir
- Meru
- Mezquital Otomi
- Minangkabau
- Mirandese
- Mizo
- Mohawk
- Montagnais
- Montenegrin
- Munsee
- Murrinh-Patha
- Muslim Tat
- Mwani
- Mískito
- Naga Pidgin
- Navajo
- Ndonga
- Neapolitan
- Ngazidja Comorian
- Niuean
- Nobiin
- Nomatsiguenga
- North Azerbaijani
- North Marquesan
- North Ndebele
- Northern Kurdish
- Northern Qiandong Miao
- Northern Sami
- Northern Uzbek
- Norwegian
- Nyanja
- Nyankole
- Occitan
- Ojitlán Chinantec
- Orma
- Oroqen
- Otuho
- Palauan
- Paluan
- Pampanga
- Papantla Totonac
- Papiamento
- Paraguayan Guaraní
- Pedi
- Picard
- Pichis Ashéninka
- Piemontese
- Pijin
- Pintupi-Luritja
- Pipil
- Pite Sami
- Pohnpeian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Potawatomi
- Prussian
- Purepecha
- Páez
- Quechua
- Romanian
- Romansh
- Rotokas
- Rundi
- Rwa
- Samburu
- Samoan
- Sango
- Sangu (Tanzania)
- Saramaccan
- Sardinian
- Scottish Gaelic
- Secoya
- Sena
- Serbian
- Seri
- Seselwa Creole French
- Shambala
- Shawnee
- Shipibo-Conibo
- Shona
- Shuar
- Sicilian
- Silesian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Soga
- Somali
- Soninke
- South Azerbaijani
- South Marquesan
- South Ndebele
- Southern Aymara
- Southern Qiandong Miao
- Southern Sami
- Southern Sotho
- Spanish
- Sranan Tongo
- Standard Estonian
- Standard Latvian
- Standard Malay
- Sundanese
- Swahili
- Swati
- Swedish
- Swiss German
- Tagalog
- Tahitian
- Taita
- Talysh
- Tedim Chin
- Teso
- Tetum
- Tetun Dili
- Tiv
- Toba
- Tok Pisin
- Tokelau
- Tonga (Tonga Islands)
- Tonga (Zambia)
- Tosk Albanian
- Totontepec Mixe
- Tsakhur
- Tsonga
- Tswana
- Tumbuka
- Turkish
- Turkmen
- Tuvalu
- Tzeltal
- Tzotzil
- Uab Meto
- Umbundu
- Ume Sami
- Upper Guinea Crioulo
- Upper Sorbian
- Venetian
- Veps
- Vietnamese
- Võro
- Wallisian
- Walloon
- Walser
- Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa
- Waorani
- Waray (Philippines)
- Warlpiri
- Wayuu
- Welsh
- West Central Oromo
- Western Abnaki
- Western Frisian
- Wik-Mungkan
- Wiradjuri
- Wolof
- Xavánte
- Xhosa
- Yanesha'
- Yao
- Yapese
- Yindjibarndi
- Yoruba
- Yucateco
- Zapotec
- Zulu
- Zuni
- Záparo