Web design
About this Tutorial
This tutorial, written by Matt Robinson, is a free service that aims to give readers a thorough grounding in the basic principles of web design and HTML coding. No prior knowledge is required, but a little familiarity with computers and basic computing terms (such as files, folders, windows, launching a web browser, etc) is essential.
Over the course of the tutorial, the following are discussed and demonstrated: basic elements of design (including a little on choosing colour schemes), a brief history of HTML and the World Wide Web (to put the course in context), and a methodology for planning and building a website. Readers will follow the development of a site from proposal to finished site, and will cover the most common HTML tags, learn about style-sheets, and touch on more advanced subjects such as the use of tables, making their sites accessible, coping with older browsers, and using server-side technologies to make site-building (and site maintenance) easier.
This tutorial promotes a modern, clean form of HTML coding that uses HTML 4.01 for maximum compatibility, but also the "new way" of coding that separates presentation from content with style-sheets. Sites coded this way are very easy to write, update and maintain; in fact an HTML editor is strictly optional. These sites are also highly accessible, both to people with various disabilities, and to various non-traditional web browsers such as small-screen mobile devices and printers, and so in many ways, this tutorial offers knowledge and features that leap-frog the technical level of most common web-sites, despite being far more simple to learn.
What this tutorial doesn't do
This tutorial doesn't cover the inclusion of applets and plug-in content such as Macromedia Flash/Director content, or Java applets. It introduces only a minimal set of HTML tags: omissions include image maps, scripting, or revision tags, forms, and perhaps most importantly, little time is spent on explaining how to upload a website, since most free hosting providers provide alternative methods, and FTP software (for most commercial sites) differs wildly. The Further Reading & Resources page has links to several software packages, free hosting sites, and FTP tutorials. These other subjects are either uncommon, or require a certain amount of familiarity with HTML and server-side scripting technologies and are thus beyond the scope of this tutorial. If you didn't understand this paragraph, you have nothing to worry about.
The tutorial also does not cover ECMA/JavaScript or, the Document Object Model. It won't guarantee you a job in Silicon Valley (even if you live there), and it definitely won't save your failing marriage. The author also gratuitously uses British English, however there is no cause to be alarmed. If you become confused or disorientated:
- Sit back from your computer and close your eyes
- Breathe deeply and calmly in through your nose, and out through your mouth.
- If remnants of the British Empire remain in your region, make yourself a nice cup of tea. Otherwise beer or fruit juice will suffice.
How to use the site
The tutorial is laid out in a logical order and it is suggested that readers follow it through in the order given, however some people may want to skip some of the earlier sections (i.e., the history of HTML, and justifications of the methodology given), and the final section on advanced techniques should also be considered optional.
The first time an acronym is used on a page, you can find out what it means by hovering your mouse pointer over it (text-mode and special-needs browsers — such as Lynx or JAWS — also show these appropriately). Many technical terms are also explained in the Glossary.
You should always take "eye-breaks" every fifteen minutes, and leave your computer to stretch your legs every hour. Close your eyes and stretch. By doing these things, you can waste up to an extra hour of a typical office day while still being paid the same salary. See? You get top quality tips in this tutorial, and it hasn't even started yet!