Table of Contents:
- Why XHTML and CSS?
- Creating our Document
- Creating the Stylesheets
- The Header
- The Navigation Column
- The Main Content
- Checking the Document
- Accessibility
- Netscape 4 and Older Browsers
- Wrapping Up
- Resources
Building and Validating the Front End
Matt takes the prototype Artist's showcase site that he mocked up in Fireworks, and uses it as a template for his CSS, then builds the front-end showing step-by-step how to ensure Accessibility - and how to cater for Netscape 4 if you need to. He shows how to force IE6 into Standards Mode and how to Page: 1 prevent the Internet Explorer CSS flash bug.
Finally, he demonstrates how to validate your work.This is a great article for visual designers looking to get up to speed with the hows and whys of building future-proof mark-up based on a visual template.
Matt Machell
A man of many talents, Matt has been a web designer, technical editor, and jewellery picker. He is currently on contract for the Birmingham City University, producing pages for research centres.
He has tech-edited a dozen books on web design and development for glasshaus, Apress and Sitepoint.
He likes music with loud guitars and games with obscure rules.
His website can be found at: http://www.eclecticdreams.com
He lives in Birmingham with his girlfriend, Frances, and a horde of spider plants.