extract path from text html canvas

Question

Is there anyway to extract a path from text letter(s) in html 5, then grab (x,y) coordinates along that path so that the letter(s) can be formed by circles along that letter(s) path?

I would like to take the x,y coordinates and apply a shape at their location so that it resembles the string of text in a "pixelated" format followed by some animating effects.

Any advice on getting some kind of x,y coordinates along a path of characters on a canvas would be great.

edit: I am essentially trying to auto generate the coordinates to do something similar to this: http://www.html5canvastutorials.com/labs/html5-canvas-google-bouncing-balls/