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 movie (6:51 minutes) that shows Ethan Zuckerman giving a short history of the Internet at a conference.

Tim Berners-Lee, Father of the Web

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

Internet Society History of the Internet

This is a comprehensive history of the Internet written by the people who were instrumental in starting it.

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 (4:31 minutes) on Web 2.0.

Hobbes' Internet Timeline

The timeline shows the growth and development of the timeline since the late 50's.

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.

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.

Sitepoint CSS Reference

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

Web Safe Font List

This page has a list of the fonts that are common Macs and Windows-based computers.

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.

Browser Safe Fonts

This is a very useful list of fonts that are common to all versions of Winnows& 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 Bugs and Workarounds

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

Browser Compatibility Support

This is a must view site with charts that show which CSS features work in each of the major browsers and versions.

Cascading Style Sheets, Level 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.

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.

Realm Graphics

I like this graphics resource site because it is well organized and they even have "design sets" you can use.

Web Site Design

Chapter 5 Links used in our textbook

Here is a quick way to explore the links from chapter 7.

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.

Yale Style Manual-Table of Contents

This is the best site I've found for all aspects of home page design.

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.

Page Layout with CSS

Chapter 6 links used in our textbook

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

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

CSS 2.1 Specification

This is from the W3C, and it is the latest CSS 2 specification.

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.

Layout Tables

This link gives a good explanation of the issues involved in using tables for layout. I highly recommend that you read through the sections on "fixed versus flexible" tables and "other uses for tables", too.

Project Cool Tutorial on Building a Basic Table

I really like this tutorial on creating tables. It starts with the basic tags and allows you to see how the code will appear on a web page.

Table Basics by WEBalley

This site offers a very solid introduction to tables. All you have to do is visualize all the table tags in lower case letters.

XHTML Forms

Chapter 9 Links from our textbook

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

HTML Forms for Web Site Interaction

Once again, you'll have to visualize the tags in this tutorial in lower case letters. The other big difference is that many of the stand alone tags need to be changed to be XHTML compliant.

XHTML Forms from HTML Goodies

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

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.

Weblink Checker

This free software program checks your internal links (ones where you link to another file in your web space) and lets you know if any of them don't work. Suggested by a student, I haven't tested the software myself, but it seems like it might be very useful.

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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