[ayushnix]

This is how some websites with icon fonts look when web fonts are disabled

https://0x0.st/oOUq.png (nullprogram.com)

https://0x0.st/oOUb.png (https://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp)

As someone has already pointed out, unlike web fonts, SVGs can be used as inline resources.

It's not just icon fonts though, using web fonts themselves can lead to bad design practices.

https://microblog.ayushnix.com/font-weight-insanity/