Lower case letter height changed?

[mjamin]

Going from v15 to v16 (fonts.google.com) changes the height of lower case letters. Anyone using a https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto link on their website will suddenly see a significant and possibly very unwanted difference.

v15 (left), v16 (right):

The fonts.google.com preview itself still uses v15 which makes it even more confusing.

[m4rc1e]

@mjamin The v2.000 webfonts were released when this issue occurred, #68. Back then, the hinting was incorrect when compared to the v1.000 fonts. Since the v2.000 webfonts were released several years ago, this regression has become a feature.

I have spent a lot of time testing this issue as documented in the pr to fonts/google, https://github.com/google/fonts/pull/710. I've also tested various platforms and have a separate testing repo, https://github.com/googlefonts/robototester. Check out the before and after gifs in the releases.

the x-height change affects Windows platforms only.

[thesilentw]

So, what, we're supposed to just ignore the fact that most font display in most website in Chrome is now showing up in a completely undesired way that isn't how 90% of users expect it?

[atomicthumbs]

So someone wrecked a crapload of websites and it's not a bug?

[rinux55]

I have the same issue. Our whole app looks weirdly 'narrow' now.

[JonET]

I love the open source community.