Web Publishing - Additional Resources

News for Web Builders

The Dublin Core

The official site of The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. The Dublin Core is an international, interdisciplinary set of Metadata descriptors developed for electronic resources. It is meant for use by non-cataloguers as well as resource description specialists to provide "an economical alternative to more elaborate description models such as the full MARC cataloging of the library world". Many aspects of the Dublin Core will likely become part of the W3C RDF (Resource Description Framework) metadata architecture for use by web designers and information providers. For additional links to Dublin Core resouces visit our "Just for Libraries" area.

Netscape Standards Challenge

It's no secret to web developers that there are difficulties when creating web sites that work in the two most popular browsers. Both of them deviate from the W3C recommendations in their efforts to push the envelope on web design features and the ongoing battle as to which features will end up becoming W3C standards. From Netscape, this article does a comparison of Netscape and Internet Explorer outlining which standards they each support.

Professional Organizations for Web Builders

There's nothing that will help increase your skill and knowledge base better than networking with your peers. This article looks at a variety of professional organizations for every member on your web design team!

Web Standards Project

The official site of the Web Standards Project, a grassroots organization that works with browser companies, authoring tool developers, and web authors in an effort to standardize tools and development for the Web.

XHTML - getting on board for the transition

In the spring of 2000, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommended that that the HTML standard for the Web upgrade from HTML 4.0 to XHTML. Since the W3C sets the standards for the Web, it is wise for those who build web sites to begin the transition now if they haven't already started. Here is the W3C recommendation along with instructions for coding for the new standard.

Preplanning your Web Site

Best Practices for Website Development

A set of "best practices" developed by the Internet Advisory Committee of Ohio, this site contains good suggestions and steps for site building

Building a Better Interface

Four User-Interface experts share their tips and tricks for improving web site usability and appeal

Authoring & Editing

10 Questions about Meta Data

Meta tags are a magical and valuable piece of any web page and anyone creating sites or pages should get to know them well. This article from Builder.com provides an excellent overview of Meta tags and Meta data. It covers not only the basics of Meta Data but also includes sections that deal with XML and the Dublin Core. Links to tutorials are also given.

A Dictionary of HTML Meta Tags

A lengthy list of Meta Tags along with examples, explanations and references pertaining to the use of Meta Tags in HTML documents.

Extra Tools and Add-ons for Web Builders

Here's a small collection of tools and add-ons that we've picked out to help webmasters with their Web sites. Tools here include JavaScript resources, bulletin boards, calendars, polls, and much more.

HTML Standards from the W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has been setting the authoring standards for the Web for years. Here is the official reference for all your HTML and XML tags.

Site Redesigns

If that first generation site is looking like it's time for a face lift, you are facing a site redesign. Before you pull the whole thing down and start over, make sure you understand your options and what you want to end up with so you don't need to do it all again next year! This excellent tutorial on tackling the redesign of your web site can clarify a lot of the issues and help get you on track for your next generation site. Although the focus is on business sites, redesign concepts and issues are much the same no matter what type of site you have.

Web Design Nightmares

There are a few "rules of the road" in Web design that get overlooked by some authors. From builder.com comes this great article that overviews common Web design pitfalls to avoid on your site!

What to expect when expecting Multimedia

With so much emphasis on building multimedia, it never hurts to review some of the steps to designing effective multimedia presentations. Rather than focusing on the tools, this site covers the principles of good multimedia design. Although written for the faculty at San Diego State University, the principles apply to any multimedia project.

Accessibility Issues

Accessible Web Page Design Curriculum

Here's a step-by-step tutorial to making your Web site accessible from Knowbility, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting barrier free access to Information Technology.

Accessible Web Site Design

This set of tutorials walks you through creating various levels of accessibility for your site. It also has links to testing and validation issues, along with a short list of tools that can help with your work.

Building An Accessible Web Site

There are many Internet users out there who don't access web pages in the same way that most of us do. Internet usage by those who are physically challenged is on the rise and if you want your web site to be available to them, you'll need to make sure that your site includes features that make it accessible. This article from Builder.com provides a clear guide to developing your pages for those with disabilities.

Considering the Colour-Blind in your Web Design

There are all kinds of usability guidelines for designing sites, but this set is unique in that it covers issues surrounding users with colour-blindness. This article from Web Techniques not only provides some guidelines, but also explains what colour-blindness is and how to set up your colour palettes so you can accommodate the needs of those who are not seeing the same colours. If you are concerned at all with accessibility and usability issues, this is a must read!

Validation Tools

Bobby

Bobby is a web page validation service that checks your syntax, examines browser compatibility and load times, and gives you suggestions on how to make your pages more accessible to those with disabilities.

HTML Tidy

A great tool that will not only validate and suggest repairs to your code, but will also get your code ready for translation into XML.

NetMechanic

There are a number of tools at the NetMechanic site and you can test them out for free.

Maintaining your Web Site

Cull Vital Statistics to Analyze User Trends

This short article gives the main statistics to look for and use from your server log files.

WebTracking Tutorial

A great step-by-step guide from Web Monkey on how to make practical use of the site statistics you generate.

Updated: August 2004, Additions: August 2004