[Web4lib] Resources? -- Web Standards and Semantic Markup

Wed May 2 09:29:32 EDT 2007

Given your link to A List Apart, you likely know about this. However, 
the alphabet article is a but cutesy and these two primers are much more 
substantive:

http://alistapart.com/articles/ALAprimer
http://alistapart.com/articles/alaprimer2

Given your original request (8-12 hours worth of reading, a long term 
reference guide) I would start with these pages. They are essentially 
what we used to call a 'pathfinder' in library school (do we still call 
these type of things pathfinders????).

-Steve

Jonathan Blackburn wrote:
> Hi Tim, 
> 
> I think you make some good points, and while I am a strong proponent of the
> use of web standards, I agree that there are always compromises in the world
> of web design.
> 
> I have no real points of content, in fact, with what you have said . . .
> however, for clarification...
> 
> At the moment I am really just looking for materials that will help
> familiarize our GA with some of the issues and best practices related to
> writing valid and semantically-accurate markup for the Web.  
> 
> I am certainly not trying to endoctrinate him into becoming a lesser or
> greater "web standardista" (see: http://alistapart.com/articles/alphabet)
> Our intention is merely to help prepare him for a small project we have
> planned for him to clean up some HTML content we have on hand.  
> 
> Some of this will simply involve manual conversion of markup from HTML 4.0
> (or older) to XHTML, or at least what cannot be done reliably using
> automated methods (i.e. HTML tidy).  
> 
> The other half will be to make it more accessible (e.g. alt tags)
> semantically reliable (li for lists, p for paragraphs), as well as further
> separate structure from presentation (br tags, stray font tags, etc.).
> 
> This will help fit the content better mesh with current and future web
> templates - as well as providing the other benefits of standards-based
> markup.
> 
> We hope to use this as both a beneficial project for the library - as well
> as fruitful educational experience for the GA - hence the introduction to
> basic issues, etc.
> 
> There is, no doubt, that perfectly valid and universally accessible markup
> is not always (and in every single case) possible or even preferable - but
> when doable, seems a more-than-reasonable goal for a designer.
> 
> Jon :)
> 
> 
> Jonathan Blackburn
> AIM/E-mail: jblackbu at mailer.fsu.edu
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Tim Spalding
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 4:50 PM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Resources? -- Web Standards and Semantic Markup
> 
> Without opening up a can of worms-one that's been opened before-I'd
> encourage you to acquire competence (or excellence) in the field of
> web design, and consider standards to be partially aligned with that,
> but hardly the same thing.
> 
> "Web standards" have, after all, no normative force. What we do is
> judged by quality, cost and speed. The degree of importance some
> ascribe to "web standards" can bear little relation to reality. For
> example, the overwhelming majority of the top 100 trafficked sites on
> the web do not validate-often not by a long shot-and not because
> they're stupid. (Google's not stupid, at least.) And, in my humble
> experience, "standards" language on a resume is like certifications,
> at least irrelevant and often a contraindication of talent and
> creativity.
> 
> Tim
> 
> On 5/1/07, Chris Gray <cpgray at library.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>> Another article worth reading is Steve Champeon's "The Secret Life of
>> Markup".  He is another co-author of the book glasshaus book I mentioned
>> in connection with Owen Briggs.
>>
>> "The idea of presentation, and its separation from content and the rest,
>> is perhaps the most widely misunderstood but one of the most important
>> ideas in Web and document design."
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> Andrew Darby wrote:
>>> There's oodles of information out there, but you could look at the Web
>>> Standards site, and specifically the "Learn" section:
>>>
>>> http://www.webstandards.org/learn/
>>>
>>> It's not as fleshed out as one might like, but there's a set of FAQs
>>> and numerous links under "External Resources."
>>>
>>> On 5/1/07, Jonathan Blackburn <jblackbu at mailer.fsu.edu> wrote:
>>>> Hi Everybody,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am a library web developer looking for suggestions for some solid
>>>> "introductory" resources for learning about the importance AND use of
>>>> web
>>>> standards -- and specifically "semantic markup" --  in web design.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am providing a GA here in the library w/ a list of resources to begin
>>>> reading related to a project he will be working on this summer.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> (E.G. maybe, a set of intro sources he can review over about 8-12
>>>> hours -
>>>> along w/ some more permanent reference materials he can refer to over
>>>> the
>>>> course of the project.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you have some nice (preferably web-based) resources you would like
> to
>>>> recommend, I would greatly appreciate it.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Jon :-)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jonathan Blackburn
>>>>
>>>> Web Development Librarian
>>>>
>>>> Florida State University Libraries
>>>>
>>>> AIM/E-mail: jblackbu at mailer.fsu.edu
>>>>
>>>> Phone: 850.645.6986
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>>>>
>>>
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