Taking Your Talent to the Web- P28 pdf

In February 2001, A List Apart reinvented itself with a standards-compliant design that separates style from content http://www.alistapart.com/ stories/99/.. The Babble List http://www.b

chapter 13

Never Can Say Goodbye

Y OUR DIALOG WITH THE W EBhas now begun And though this book, like young love, must end, our conversation will continue You will find us, and we will find you on the pages of the World Wide Web

No book (indeed, no five-year program, if one existed) could teach you everything you need to know to design smart, attractive, user-focused websites You will learn as you work—from teammates, partners, and even your clients

You also will learn a great deal from the people who visit your sites You’ll

be surprised at how many write—and not merely to complain when your single-spaced, 10px type sends them scurrying to the optometrist But some of the best places to learn are on the Web itself, hence this chap-ter In it we share our favorite online resources and explain the importance

of continuing your education as the Web and your career experience growth and change

Throughout this book, we’ve shown methods used to design today’s Web and shared theories about how people interact with the medium You need

to know these things to begin working now

But as we’ve also pointed out, the Web is changing; indeed, like the sea, or like some other Zen metaphor we can’t quite put together here, the Web’s very nature is one of constant change Currently the Web is changing in an intriguing way—one that will move it closer to its founders’ original vision

of an open medium, accessible by all people and available to all sorts of Internet-enabled devices

What will empower that happy change? It will come with the separation

of style from content What does that mean? It means you’ll stop welding your texts and functions and images together through overextended HTML Instead, you’ll keep your visual design in one place (a Cascading Style Sheet) and your content in another (a series of HTML or XHTML documents;

a database of XML-formatted text) The twain will meet on the web page, but their behind-the-scenes separation will considerably enhance your working conditions and your audience’s experience

Instead of painstakingly slicing apart images in Photoshop as described in this book or spending hours hand-tweaking hundreds of individual HTML documents, you’ll have time to spend on more interesting pursuits such as design itself—which is, after all, what you do

This change in the nature of web design as a practice will come when all web users employ browsers that fully support the standards that empower

us to separate style from content: HTML/XHTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript/ ECMAScript, and the DOM

Not only do browsers have to change (and they are changing), web design-ers must also change—a proposition that requires the willingness to con-tinue learning and to risk discarding methods we’ve spent years perfecting

In February 2001, A List Apart reinvented itself with a standards-compliant

design that separates style from content (http://www.alistapart.com/ stories/99/) As you might expect, the site (www.alistapart.com) is a good resource for information on that subject

The reinvention of ALA coincided with The Web Standards Project’s Browser Upgrade campaign (http://www.webstandards.org/upgrade/), which urges web designers to learn about and use the W3C recommendations we’ve

388 HOW: Never Can Say Goodbye: Separation Anxiety

discussed in this book, even if the resulting sites look less than delicious in older, nonstandards-compliant browsers The Browser Upgrade campaign also asks web designers and content creators to seek ways to encourage user upgrades so that the Web can improve without leaving anyone behind

The Browser Upgrade campaign and the ALA redesign were logical next steps in the evolution of the Web We launched them while writing this book, which brings up the problem with books Namely, while books have the virtue of permanence, they cannot update themselves as websites can

We encourage you to continue learning by visiting educational and inspir-ing websites and readinspir-ing and participatinspir-ing in web design mailinspir-ing lists and forums

The remainder of this chapter will provide you with plenty to choose from

Use these resources to amplify parts of this book and to learn more about the emerging, standards-based Web At the end of the annotated list below, we’ll return to offer a final thought about the Web and you

Learning by trial and error is part of any process and is certainly part of web design Learning from other members of your team is a deeply bonding experience, but learning (and sharing your own knowledge) on a mailing list is a pleasure no web designer should miss

There are many, many mailing lists and online communities for web design-ers and developdesign-ers Some focus on specific technologies; othdesign-ers are vast, crowded, and general Some function as job referral services while others mainly promote the people who created the list Some are chaotic, others restrictive With a little effort, you will find the ones that make you feel most comfortable

Following, in alphabetical order, are some of our favorites

A List Apart

http://www.alistapart.com/

Each week A List Apart publishes useful tutorials (“Meet the DOM,” “Fear

of Style Sheets”), challenging opinion pieces (“The Curse of Information Design,” “Sympathy for the Plug-in”), or both And each week, after read-ing these articles, ALA readers respond on the site’s discussion forum The site is noncommercial, and you need not reveal your identity or other per-sonal information to participate in the discussion forums

Astounding Websites

http://www.astoundingweb.org/

Launched by Glenn Davis and maintained by Dave Bastian, this unique dis-cussion community was created to honor the best writing, design, and pro-gramming on the Web Visit this small, friendly forum to discover inspiring commercial and noncommercial sites or participate by reviewing sites you admire You can also submit your own sites for review in the Site Promo-tion secPromo-tion

The Babble List

http://www.babblelist.com/

Maintained by Christopher Schmitt (and resurrected by him in 2001 after

a brief hiatus), The Babble List is a well-run general web design mailing list, covering issues of graphic design, information architecture, writing, usabil-ity, project management, and related skills Though the average Babble Lis-ter is a professional with at least two years’ experience, the list is beginner-friendly If you find yourself stuck on a JavaScript or CSS prob-lem or wondering why your site looks great in one browser but poor in another, you can post your message to The Babble List and anticipate use-ful feedback

390 HOW: Never Can Say Goodbye: From Tag Soup to Talk Soup

http://www.dreamless.org/

Dreamless is a deep and open community primarily populated by young graphic designers and Flash artists Though the site’s gray-on-gray, Arial-only design gives it a somber appearance, it’s anything but dull Dreamless discussions range from the seriously spiritual to the deliberately silly The site has a fanatical following and encourages its members to get together

at parties in various cities If you have trouble finding the site’s front door, use View Source

Evolt

http://www.evolt.org/

Evolt, a multi-faceted mailing list, online message board, and member-cre-ated publication, provides useful dialog spaces for technically minded web designers and developers worldwide Accessibility and web standards are hot topics here, and you can learn simply by reading other members’ posts

Like all communities mentioned here, Evolt is self-policing; and like all suc-cessful communities, it manages the task unobtrusively

Metafilter

http://www.metafilter.com/

Matt Haughey’s noncommercial community site is not about web design

or web programming, but many web content creators will be found in its forums Billing itself as a “community weblog,” the occasionally raucous discussion site can help you get a handle on aspects of the Web’s emerg-ing culture This in turn will remind you that the Web is not about HTML tags or graphic design; like Soylent Green, the Web is people

http://www.redcricket.com/

Dan Beauchamp’s personal site includes a web design forum (“Commu-nity”) that’s small, lively, and friendly HTML questions? JavaScript woes? Redcricket could be the ticket By maintaining a fairly low profile, Red-cricket’s forum generally avoids the flame wars and ego trips that some-times plague other lists and communities Spend time at the site before you post Redcricket is a tight community of friends; barging in and loudly demanding attention won’t go over well

Webdesign-l

http://webdesign-l.com/

Stewarded by Steven Champeon, Webdesign-l is a long-running, smartly focused design and development list Some of the brightest people in the industry participate in this highly respected list Champeon, a systems guru

who technical-edited Taking Your Talent to the Web and who co-founded

The Web Standards Project, runs a tight ship As list administrator, he keeps misinformation to a minimum and stops bad behavior before it starts Beginner questions might be well-received if submitted with restraint (“Hellllllp! My site is hosed!!!!!!” will probably not generate the kind of feedback you want.) Read the list rules and get used to the general dis-cussion tone before posting to the list

When All Else Fails

http://www.r35.com/edu/

Consider a class R35edu offers a curriculum of over 60 courses, covering nearly every facet of web strategy, design, development, commerce, and marketing—all via “a unique distance learning environment that puts you

in direct contact with creative innovators and designers from all over the world.”

392 HOW: Never Can Say Goodbye: From Tag Soup to Talk Soup

E YE AND B RAIN C ANDY : E DUCATIONAL AND

I NSPIRING S ITES

Attempting to figure out web design exclusively from a book is like trying

to learn about music without listening to any Fortunately, the Web is rich

in inspiring and educational sites Following are a few of our favorites, including a couple of our own (cough)

Design, Programming, Content

A List Apart (http://www.alistapart.com/), “for people who make websites

From pixels to prose, coding to content.” See previous section for more

on this

Apple Internet Developer (http://developer.apple.com/internet/), launched

in 2001, started small, but what it has is choice: brief and pungent tutori-als on HTML, online typography, CSS, JavaScript, and the DOM

Builder (http://www.builder.com/), “solutions for site builders,” provides articles and tutorials on graphic design, multimedia, back-end develop-ment, and even software (“Fireworks vs ImageReady”) There is also a dis-cussion board (Builder Buzz), and the site hosts a dandy annual web design conference in New Orleans

Each month, Digital Web (http://www.digital-web.com/), “the web designer’s online magazine of choice,” brings you fresh interviews, tutori-als, columns, and even classifieds (to help you get your next job) Edited

and published by Nick Finck, who also contributes to A List Apart.

Web Page Design for Designers (http://wpdfd.com/), published monthly by Joe Gillespie, is “aimed at people…already involved with design and typog-raphy for conventional print, [who] want to explore the possibilities of this new electronic medium.” In other words, it speaks to the audience of this very book! (We would have titled this book “Web Design for Designers” if Joe hadn’t beaten us to the punch, darn him.) The site includes typefaces optimized for the Web, columns on web design and typography, and a solid listing of third-party resources

The Web Standards Project (http://www.webstandards.org/), co-founded

by Glenn Davis, George Olsen, and your humble author, maintains a Resources section for your educational pleasure Confused about CSS, ECMAScript, and the rest of the alphabet soup? You’ll find links to relevant articles here

Web Techniques (http://www.webtechniques.com/) is a vast, professional publication with an accompanying real-world magazine you can read in the bathtub or carry in your attache case It covers web technology and business and can help you understand how wireless technology interfaces with web design

Web Review (http://www.webreview.com/) publishes some of the smartest tutorials we’ve ever seen on XHTML, JavaScript, and other web technolo-gies and has always been a great friend to web standards Highly recom-mended, particularly for those who wish to understand web technologies instead of simply pushing buttons in WYSIWYG editors

Think of Webmonkey (http://www.webmonkey.com/), originally directed by Jeff “Art & Science of Web Design” Veen, as Builder.com with more atti-tude A deep resource dating back to the earliest days of the designed Web, the site sports swell tutorials on HTML, JavaScript, and other technologies, along with columns and articles on streaming media, emerging standards, and the web business Not updated as often as it used to be, but still a fine smoke

Webreference (http://www.webreference.com/), a subsidiary of

Internet.com (yes, there really is an Internet.com), is tailored more

to developers than designers but will repay your exploration Edited by Andy King, the vast site covers everything you could ever want to know on the web technology front Interviews and discussion forums enhance the site’s value

Webtype (http://www.webtype.org/), dedicated to better online typogra-phy, keeps you posted on this vital and sadly under-reported topic (Some-times web designers seem more interested in scripting and gimmicks than they are in ensuring that type is legible—let alone attractive and pleasur-able to read.) Webtype gives you the lowdown on everything from

394 HOW: Never Can Say Goodbye: Eye and Brain Candy

readability studies and CSS nuances to typographic explorations and downloadable typefaces Don’t miss the survey of fonts installed on PC and Mac users’ computers Founded by the mysterious “Gen,” with kibitzing from Dave Bastian, Joe Clark, Julia Hayden, Webmistress Jo, and your hum-ble author

The World Wide Web Consortium (http://w3.org/), the mother of us all, is the final authority on web standards Use it to keep track of existing and

emerging technologies and to verify the way these technologies should

work, before running off half-cocked, screaming about aliens jamming the radio transmitter embedded in your skull as part of an evil CIA experiment

Note that W3C articles, while definitive, are among the least easy to read and understand of any we’ve seen—and that includes VCR manuals writ-ten in Japan You’ll do better if you check W3C to see what you should learn

about; then read the friendly tutorials at Webmonkey, Builder, or A List

Apart.

The Big Kahunas

Let us now praise famous art directors:

Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/) not only makes great software for print and web designers, they also run a fine, vast site full of tutorials, columns, and articles on web, print, and motion design Disclaimer: Your humble author writes a column for this publication

AIGA (http://www.aiga.org/), the American institute of Graphic Arts, has a long and noble history as a membership organization for designers But you know that The site helps you track seminars and conferences and offers a national job bank and member discussion board along with thought-provoking articles (“What is Graphic Design?”)

Communication Arts (http://www.commarts.com/) is among the world’s most-respected voices for design Its interactive section includes design technology columns and a Website of the Week And of course the Com-munication Arts annuals honor some of the best design and advertising communications in the world