Many months ago I had the privilege to be part of an OCLC Webinar on the use of HTML5 and CSS3 standards for web design. It was a great session by Christopher Schmitt and the slides are available online (HTML5 slides, CSS3 slides). But for me, the best part was that I also got a couple books by Schmitt out of the deal: the O’Reilly CSS3 Cookbook and a wonderful collaborative work called InterACT With Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design. It is this latter book I wanted to bring to your attention.
From time to time over the past few years I’ve had to teach courses in web standards and web design. I’ve found all the books on the topic wanting. Many are so basic as to be essentially wrong in the advice they give, others are too technical, and most are very narrowly scoped, so that it is hard to get a grasp on the incredibly broad set of skills one needs to effectively design for the web. InterACT With Web Standards is the first book I’ve found that combines a solid introduction to the way the web works with fantastic advice on how to leverage web standards toward your design goals.
This book helps the reader through all stages of web design. From internet fundamentals to writing for the web to site planning and considering content, the book builds a foundation of good, practical approaches to the task of conceiving a web site. The book offers a great grounding in HTML and CSS that is both legible to a newcomer and serves as a solid reference even for the seasoned pro. All those basic hints I look to the web for again and again (just what is the best way to build a two-column design, how do I style a list again, what accessibility issues should I watch out for) are covered with concise clarity.
The volume is well illustrated and printed in a format that easily stays open on a desk (thank you!). It is in every way (except, perhaps, its cover) a handsome edition.
Best of all, the whole text is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA agreement, so you can use it as you like in most educational settings. In fact, the authors and publisher have set up very nice website which includes sample chapters, all the code exercises, and a sample web project.
If you are teaching a course on web design or standards, consider InterACT With Web Standards as a potential backbone text. If you are someone who already builds websites, I bet you will still learn something from this text and certainly appreciate the wealth of information it puts at your fingertips even more effectively than Google.
