> > Is it possible to design fonts that will render ẞ as SS? > > > > So we could choose between ẞ and SS by just selecting the proper > > font, without changing the text itself. > > I think, and others agree, that this is a bad thing. Those who want > SS can simply use 'S' and 'S', ẞ was encoded for those who wanted to > use a capital form of ß. They would be annoyed if they found that > the typeface they wanted subverted their intentions.
It's even more complicated. Take for example the word `Straße' (street), which gets capitalized as `STRASSE'. In Germany and Austria this word gets hyphenated as `STRA-SSE' (since hyphenation is not influenced by the ß→SS substitution). However, in Switzerland it gets hyphenated as `STRAS-SE', since Swiss German doesn't use ß; instead, `ss' gets treated as a normal double consonant. Werner