Elizabeth Altman's Web Authoring Resources

How to use HTML

• W3C's HTML Home Page
• Specification for HTML 4.01
• Index of Elements (i.e. "tags")
  • easy-to-read table shows you which HTML elements require an end tag and which are deprecated
  • click on an element name to jump to its explanation in the specification
• Index of Attributes
  • table indicates what elements the attributes can modify, what they do, which are included in the HTML 4.01 loose DTD, and which are deprecated.
  • click on an attribute name to jump to its explanation in the specification
• W3C Schools' HTML Tutorial -- the niftiest aspect of these tutorials is the "Try it" window that accompanies every lesson: you can play with the code in the left frame and the resulting HTML appears on the right.
• Specification for CSS 1
• Specification for CSS 2.1
• W3C Schools' CSS Tutorial -- Very valuable resource for learning how to manage color, layout, font size, etc. using cascading style sheets. Also features "Try it" window.
• Brower support of CSS 1 -- compares which CSS functions are recognized by IE, Netscape, and Opera

Making Sure Your HTML Works

• W3C Markup Validation Service . The first line of defense against inaccessibility is validation of code according to the standard declared in your doctype statement.
• "My web site is standard! And yours?" A toolbox of resources for making your pages valid and accessible. Key here is the table indicating the correct doctype declaration for different versions of HTML and XHTML.
• W3C Link Checker. Paste in the URL of your uploaded page, and the robot checks each link on the page and generates a report of dead and redirected links.
• Bobby Worldwide checks your code for correct use and accessibility, and suggests additional design checks that might otherwise hinder the usability of your page.
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0)
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Draft (WCAG 2.0)
• Dive Into Accessibility :30 days to a more accessible web site
• Web Accessibility Toolbar -- A valuable download from the National Information Library Service of Australia. Lets you quickly validate uploaded pages, check their appearance under various user scenarios, and evaluate their accessibility.

Other fun web stuff

• Visualize color combinations for web design -- a four-frame site that lets you scroll through combinations of "web-safe" colors, the colors supported by most browsers, and the full range of hex possibilities.
• Color Schemer V2 -- a "slicker" version of the above link, without the web-safe options.
• The browser wars -- check up on how your favorite browser is doing in the market.