IT 111 Class Links

This list has a number of useful web sites for our class. If you find a resource you'd like me to add, please email me.

Introducing the Internet

Chapter 1 Links from our textbook

Here's an easy way to get to all the links from Chapter 1 in the textbook.

History of the Internet

A short YouTube animated movie (8:10 minutes) that offers an excellent history of the Internet.

Tim Berners-Lee, Father of the Web

A great YouTube movie (6:39 minutes) that explains how the World Wide Web got started.

How the Web Works

This explanation comes from CERN, the organization that invented the World Wide Web.

Web 2.0 .. The Machine is Us/ing Us

A very cool YouTube movie (4:32 minutes) on Web 2.0. This is an updated version that a student (thanks, Mary!) found and pointed out.

How the Internet Works (5:15 minutes)

This is one in a series of tutorials on web site planning from Lynda.com. It discusses the differences between the Internet and the World Wide Web.

How Users Connect to the Web (6:44 minutes)

This is another tutorial from the series on web planning from Lynda.com. I think it does an excellent job of explaining the role of web browsers and web servers and how they interact to deliver web pages to users.

Webopedia

Some students have told me that learning about the Internet is like learning a foreign language. Here is a good dictionary to use when you hear a foreign term!

XHTML Basics

Chapter 2 Links from our textbook

Here's a quick way to get to all the Chapter 2 links in our textbook.

W3 Schools XHTML Reference

A nice list of all the XHTML tags offered by W3Schools, a great web developer's resource.

XHTML Tutorial

This is also from W3Schools and it provides a nice introduction to XHTML.

Error messages from the W3C HTML/XHTML validator, what they actually mean

This site gives "plain English" explanations of the error messages you get when validating your web pages.

XHTML Web Design for Beginners

This is yet another good introduction to XHTML See the XHTML Building Blocks section which I think is helpful for learning the basics of XHTML.

Using P and BR tags

A very good explanation of how the P and BR tags work and when to use them. Thanks to a former student for finding and sharing this excellent information.

Rules for XHTML

This is a YouTube video (8:41 minutes) I created that explains four rules that should solve most of your validation problems.

Firefox Web Developer Extension

These web developer extensions are really helpful. I highly recommend downloading and installing them.

Configuring Color and Text with CSS

Chapter 3 links used in our textbook

Here is an easy way to explore the links in Chapter 3.

CSS Reference

From the W3Schools web site, this has a good tutorial and explanation of CSS.

CSS Web Site Design Training Library

Lynda.com is an extraordinary web site with many free and subscription-based tutorials. The CSS tutorials are excellent and they have been created Eric Meyer who is considered an authority on CSS. These tutorials cover both formatting and page layout (which we will cover in Chapter 6). Not all the tutorials in this series are free but several are.

Sitepoint CSS Reference

A detailed and up-to-date reference on CSS.

Web Safe Color Palette

Here is an online version of the web safe colors that are provided in our textbook. There is also a page that displays the colors by value (light, medium, dark) which I find helpful when picking colors that will have good contrast.

ColorSchemer Online Color Scheme Generator

This very cool tool helps you create color schemes for your web pages. This could come in very handy when you create your final project.

Browser Safe Fonts

This is a very useful list of fonts that are common to all versions of Windows & Mac systems. The other helpful information included is the generic font family names.

Vischeck

This web site simulates colorblind vision so you can see what your color scheme will look like to people who have various types of colorblindness.

CSS Compatibility Guide

This is an excellent, up-to-date guide to CSS compatibility issues.

Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2 Revision 1

This is the official W3C description of Cascading Style Sheets.

Visual Elements and Graphics

Chapter 4 links from our textbook

Here's a quick way to get to the Chapter 4 links in our textbook.

Photoshop Express

This is a new and free online image editor from Adobe.

Free Banner Maker

A flexible, robust banner maker that could help you create a banner for your final project web site.

Compfight

Flickr is a photo sharing web site that many of you have probably heard about (or used?). This special search tool allows you to locate photos on Flickr that have Creative Commons licenses. This can be an excellent way to find photos for your final project!

Flickr Photos or Video with a Creative Commons Attribution License

Here is another way to look for photos for your final project. You must give credit to the photographer but the photos are then free to use.

Button Maker

I'm impressed by this web site that lets you create buttons for free. It looks easy to use and also seems to make attractive buttons. This could be a nice resource for your final project.

Web Site Design

Chapter 5 Links used in our textbook

Here is a quick way to explore the links from chapter 5.

Web Site Planning and Wireframing

This series of tutorials from Lynda.com is an excellent overview of the planning and design process. I hope you'll review them before you start working on your final project web site. Not all the tutorials in this series are free but several are.

Best Practices for Accessibility

This is another series of free tutorials from Lynda.com. The focus is on accessibility but most of the practices are excellent in general. Not all the tutorials in this series are free but several are.

Sample Chapter from Don't Make Me Think

Don't make me think is one of my favorite web design books. Here is a sample chapter.

Web Pages That Suck.com

This actually links to a page within the "Web Pages that Suck" web site. There are checklists you can use to determine if your design is okay. I found it valuable to scan both lists.

Web Design Patterns

This is site has examples and guidance on developing sites for different purposes. This could really help you get started on a design for your final project.

Web Design Principles

This site has several articles on web deign.

Screen Resolution Checker

See how your page design will look in three different screen resolutions.

Browsershots.org

See how your page design will look in dozens of different browsers and operating systems.

Page Layout with CSS

Chapter 6 links used in our textbook

Here is an easy way to explore the links in Chapter 6.

CSS Reference

From the W3Schools web site, this has a good tutorial and explanation of CSS.

6 Keys to Understanding Modern CSS-Based Layouts

A very useful web site with understandable explanations for things like the box model, floating columns, sizing using ems, and much more.

Little Boxes

This site has a wide variety of CSS layout examples and the code that creates them. You can study the code for a better understanding of the concepts or borrow it for your final project.

Website Tips for CSS

This site lists the CSS bugs in major browsers and versions and it give suggestions on working around the bugs.

CSS Work

This web site is the work of Eric Meyers who has contributed an enormous about of useful information about CSS.

Free Web Design Templates

This blog posting has links to several sites that offer free templates for web sites.

Links, Lists, and Layout

Chapter 7 Links from our textbook

This is a quick way to get to the Chapter 7 links from our textbook.

The Layout Reservoir

A site where you can find many layout examples and are given permission to adopt them for your own use.

Listamatic

This is a great resource for creating different types of lists. Find the one you want then copy and paste the CSS code.

CSS Layout Techniques for Fun and Profit

From glish.com, several sample layouts including the ones in our textbook.

Tables

Chapter 8 Links for our textbook

Here's a quick way to get to all the Chapter 8 links form our textbook

Creating Accessible Tables

This site is an excellent resource for building tables that can be used by everyone including people with disabilities.

Web Programming Quick Start XHTML Tables

This is a good overview of table coding with the goal of using tables for presenting data - not for layout. .

XHTML Forms

Chapter 9 Links from our textbook

This is a quick way to get to the Chapter 9 links from our textbook.

Accessible HTML/XHTML Forms: Beginner Level

The is from the Web Standards Project and it includes best practices for creating good forms. It has several coding examples, too.

XHTML Forms from HTML Goodies

This site provides a good overview of forms and the XHTML tags used to create them.

Brainjar.com

This web site offers a free script for processing forms. It might help you understand the programming needed for a working form.

Matt's Script Archive

You can find a script to do just about anything on this web site. The "FormMail" script is one of the first scripts written for processing forms and was freely distributed in the early days of the Web. It processed the form information and sent it in an email message to the form creator.

Validators and Accessibility

W3C MarkUp Validation Service

We'll be using this a lot during the quarter to test web pages. The error messages aren't very user-friendly but this is the only official validation service I could find.

W3C CSS Validation Service

This is the site that we'll use to validate the CSS we use in our web pages.

Web Accessibility Initiative

From the W3C, this organization strives to insure that everyone can access information on the web. There are excellent links to other resources on this site as well.

Do-It Program from the University of Washington

This is a widely recognized program created by people with disabilities to promote the use of accessible electronic information technology and universal design.

W3C Link Checker

Here is another helpful W3C tool and you should use it with your final project before submitting it.

Screen Reader Simulation

This is a web site that let's you hear what a person who uses a screen reader for surfing the web will hear. It's a large audio file that takes a few seconds to download but it's important for web developers to hear, I think.

Questions?

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