By Dan Cederholm
Review by: Alex
Web Standards Solutions is considered amongst the web design community as one of two "Holy Bibles" to standards. (The other being "Designing with Web Standards" which as a second edition is in the process of being reprinted I won't have a review ready until august as my copy is still on order) Web Standards Solutions goes through the process of leading you through how to make your code validate and how to take into account every element of XHTML and CSS required making sure that what you end up with is clean cut code which works in every browser. This may seem like mission impossible but the book breaks down how to transform the way you code into easy simple lessons so that you get to grip with the latest coding standards as quickly and easily as possible. Because Dan is not a standards "nut" he doesn't try to force you to change habits but shows you the true benefits of making your websites using valid code that you will just want to change your habits on your own. Its amazing to think that so much can be crammed into this fairly lightweight "Orange Bible" and for anyone wishing to make their websites as easy to maintain as possible will look at the simple examples, clear and non-technological language and will think... "Hey this guy knows what he's talking about, its just common sense!" From reading this book you will gain an insight on how to pull your plan to move to W3C valid code into action and how to make your code valid without loosing the ability to style your website as beautifully and as content rich as if you just used a normal page editor such as FrontPage. This theory and practice book shows the true power of website design and for those who want convincing that standards are here to stay (without sounding uptight or strict about its implementation) this book is something which everyone should read, no matter of their level of knowledge of website design just down to the fact that everyone can see where Dan comes from and as it doesn't preach like other books about standards and how they should be used all of the time, it lets you make your own mind up. The book even shows you different ways of achieving the same effects so that you can decide for yourself what route to take rather then being pushed around by the "standards followers". It could also be said that if every student learning website design had read this book, there would be a lot less of a problem with accessibility on the internet, though you have to want to learn to be able to take onboard what is said and this cookbook shows you how to implement the changes, not always mentioning (in detail) why you should do so. As someone who believes deeply in the benefits of standards based design, I see this book as a very important example on how to make sure your site can be used in any browser by (within reason) any person.
The chapters of this book include the following... Chapter 1 is an introduction to producing lists of information with XHTML and CSS. Chapter 2 shows you how to produce headings using valid coding methods. Chapter 3 questions the common accessibility quote that tables in design are evil and look at how you can make the best of them if you need to use them. Chapter 4 shows you how to produce and handle quotations of information. Chapter 5 details the tricky subject of forms and how to make those pesky forms validate properly with the W3C. Chapter 6 explains the use of phrase elements such as strong and em and how or when they should be used in design. Chapter 7 then goes on to explain the importance of anchors and how to use them. Chapter 8 carries on where Chapter 1 started off and shows you how to work even further with lists. Chapter 9 shows you how to save space and bandwidth by minimizing your mark-up and how this makes website development easier. Chapter 10 shows you how to apply valid CSS to your code to separate structure from style. Chapter 11 mentions print styles and show you that you can actually make your website printer friendly without wasting user's ink. Chapter 12 shows you how to use CSS to control your layout so that you can make changes to your website without having to edit every page. Chapter 13 details how to style text so that you can improve its readability. Chapter 14 explains image replacement and how CSS can be used to give accessible "special effects" to your website. Chapter 15 shows you how to style your websites body tags so that you can control the layout with ease and the final chapter, Chapter 16 tells you the next steps to take when designing a website by listing sites worth looking at, books worth reading and how to improve your accessibility and standards based design.
This book is suitable for the following types of people interested in website development:
- Website developers who wish to make their websites usable on any platform or browser.
- People interested in developing websites for the very first time who want to make sites the right way.
- Anyone working in website design and wants an introduction to standards and accessibility.