Web Page Design with XHTML/CSS combines the author’s "workflow learning" approach with Labyrinth’s successful instructional and graphic design approach to introduce the budding web developers to the languages used to create web pages – specifically Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Students are introduced to the technologies that make websites work, learn best practices for naming web pages and organizing website files, work with HTML, XHTML and CSS, and put a website on the web.
This approach makes learning code easier because:
- Structure is clearly separated from presentation
- XHTML is addressed as a structural language and CSS is saved for last
- Concepts are explained with painstakingly clear verbiage and figures before students are asked to perform tasks
- The classic Labyrinth instructional design leads learners up a gentle slope to writing valid code so they are less likely to get stuck or fail
- More challenging exercises with less and less scaffolding are introduced in Skill Builder exercises
- Students learn in a sequence that emulates professional web design workflow
Other important features of this student-friendly text:
- Coverage of freeware web development tools, including text editors and browser add-ons
- Design tips focusing on usability and accessibility
- Coverage of basic image editing with Adobe Photoshop
- Reference charts included in the printed book and the accompanying website
- Coverage of the design and development workflow in a professional environment
- Coverage of code validation
- Coverage of deprecated tags so students can recognize older code
- Hands-On exercises in migrating older HTML code to XHTML/CSS
