Webdings

Webdings is a dingbat typeface that was developed by Microsoft in 1997. It is designed to display a variety of symbols, icons, and other graphical elements instead of traditional letters and numbers. The characters in Webdings are accessed by typing standard keyboard characters, but the font's interpretation converts them into their corresponding symbols. For example, typing the letter 'A' in a document set to the Webdings font will display a particular icon, and typing 'B' will display a different icon. The set of symbols includes common objects, animals, astrological signs, and weather icons, among others.

Webdings was intended to be a resource for web designers and users to easily incorporate visual elements into their content without needing to use image files. It was included with Windows operating systems starting with Windows 98 and was also bundled with Microsoft Office applications. While it offered a novel way to add visual flair, its utility was somewhat limited by the need for recipients of the document or webpage to also have the Webdings font installed for the symbols to display correctly. The font's usage has declined over time with the rise of more robust graphic embedding techniques and the availability of extensive icon libraries.