by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi
Designing Your Web: Learning HTML, CSS, XHTML, and More
Read many job descriptions these days, and you might find certain skills needed that include being able to design websites using HTML, CSS, XHTML, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, and a number of other coding languages. You may have had some training in college dealing with the basics of HTML, but if you’re like me, you feel like you need to know more before you can feel confident about your skills. There’s also the nagging feeling of, “Where do I even start?” Luckily, there are many resources available to help you learn about each, and I’ve compiled a great list of essential resources that you can use to begin designing your library’s website and becoming more marketable as a potential library employee.
Websites & Blogs
- W3 Schools Tutorials
- A list of “30+ Free and Digestible eBooks for Web Designers and Developers”
- Web Designer Depot – Web Design Blog
- A list of “10 Web Design Bloggers You Should Follow”
- The Ultimate, Mega, Essential Web Design Guide – 115 Tools and Resources
- Head First Labs by O’Reilly Media
- @HTMLWebDesign
- @html5andcss3
- @HTML5Weekly
- @JSisSexy (about JavaScript)
- @JoeZimJS
- @CSS
Books
- Designing the Digital Experience by David Lee King
- Head First PHP & MySQL by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison
- CSS Mastery by Andy Budd, Simon Collison, and Cameron Moll
- HTML, XHTML, and CSS by Elizabeth Castro
- Sams Teach Yourself HTML, CSS, and JavaScript all in one by Julie C. Meloni
- XHTML and CSS Essentials for Library Web Design by Michael P. Sauers
- HTML, XHTML, and CSS for the Absolute Beginner by Jerry Lee Ford
- Learning PHP, MySQL, and Javascript by Robin Nixon
- Learning Javascript by Shelley Powers
Online Video Tutorials
- This Week in Web Design (YouTube Channel)
- HTML Tutorial 1: Designing a Website in Notepad
- Beginner Web Design (YouTube Playlist)
- Web Design: The Basics of HTML
Upcoming Webinars
- November 13 at 1 pm EST – Leveraging HTML5 for Learning Delivery – FREE
- November 13 at 2 pm EST – User Centered Design: How to Make Usable, Customer-Centered Websites – FREE
- November 13 at 3 pm EST – Responsive Web Design: An Introduction to Building a Single Website for the Desktop, Tablet, and Smartphone – FREE
- November 14 at 2 pm EST – WAVE and WebAim (Web Accessibility in Mind) – FREE
- For more FREE webinars, please check my blog’s calendar.
Anytime Webinars
- Easy Opportunities to Improve Your Website
- Creating Dynamic Sites Without Getting Buried in Technology
- Beyond the Desktop: Expand your Web Design Skills to Create Mobile Sites and Apps
- What Designers Need to Know About HTML5 and CSS3
Now that you have a list of resources to start learning from, don’t forget to plan your learning.
- Start with making goals. These goals should be specific. What exactly do you want to learn? Your goals should be measurable. How will you know you learned it? Make sure your goal is attainable. Is your goal too big to achieve or just the right amount? Goals should be relevant. Is this really going to help you in the long run, or are you going to become bored with it easily? Set your goals with specific deadlines. By when do you want to accomplish your goal?
- Learn! Try each goal step-by-step.
- Evaluate. How well are you doing? What do you need to meet your goal?
Don’t let the job descriptions or web design intimidate you. Just learn something new a day at a time, and find the right job for you!
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