HTML

today we looked at HTML, HTML is intended to be used to describe the content of a page, its structure, headings, paragraphs, lists etc - NOT its form, the way it looks.
The visual appearance or form of the page is supposed to be done using CSS - cascading style sheets. A well designed site uses common css files which allow the visual appearance of the whole site to be modified and updated very quickly - and to be repurposed for different applications, like print, mobile phones etc.
See the website http://www.csszengarden.com for an example of the power of css.
The final part of the equation is function - how you use a web site - discussion to come.
An excellent design marries all three, content with form and function.

We got introduced to a very helpful website; www.htmldog.com

its tutorials include:

HTML beginner

getting started

Tags, Attributes, and elements

page titles

paragraphs

headings

Lists

Links

Images

Tables

Forms

Putting it all together

CSS Beginner

HTML Imtermediate

CSS intermediate

HTML Advanced

CSS Advanced

Subject: What you see is not what someone else sees	Topic: Class Notes
Author: Mr William Hart	Date: 18 March 2010 12:02 PM

One of the key lessons for a designer to learn when designing for the web, is that you can not easily control the visual experience that the viewer has.

Key to successful design is understanding that

1. The viewer will be doing several things at once, not just looking at your site design.

2. The viewer expects the site to just work for them, no matter what browser or device they use to view your site. They won't switch to the browser you tell them to use or adjust the window or screen just to view your site. If it doesn't just work - its your fault.

Several things you have to content with:

1. Individual users preferences

2. Different browsers work differently

3. People use different sized screens and windows.

Some useful resources

http://www.browsershots.org - (give you screen shots of a site in different browsers on different operating systems)

http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/ - a graphic representation of screen size use.

http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php - global usage statistics of different browsers