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Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

learn.shayhowe.com

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Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#51

Post by yeswecan »

hessenwolf wrote: post #49

I haven't read about css in ages, and I need to throw some together. I couldn't remember the syntax of the type, id and class selectors, specifically putting them together. You reference combining selectors, and then immediately give an example of "ul#social li a {". Does this mean list items and links within the ul with the id social? Or what? tl;dr; The lesson is pretty poor. Sorry.

That means all links under list items in the unordered list with the id "social", including non direct children (e.g. an inside an inside a

as well as just an inside an ).

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#53

Post by sequoia »

yogsototh wrote: post #50
sequoia wrote: post #32

I'm so mad I metacaptioned an image. http://i.qkme.me/35uqnl.jpg Seriously tho, http://screencast.com/t/Qunx72f4rJC I know these aren't ready yet so they're deemphasized, but I'd like to be able to read them anyway. :)

First, this kind of comment about the appearance of a website should be done by asking directly and nicely to the author. For example you can easily direct message him on twitter instead of polluting the HN comment thread which should always contain useful and informative comment. Second. I can read them pretty nicely on my computer. It is clear a lot of work was made to make this website very nice. Your comment is a…

Judging by the position of my comment in the thread, it is not clear that everyone shares your view of it being merely thread pollution. I wasn't really mad, that comment was a play on this joke, which is fairly well known on the net: http://1389blog.com/pix/im-so-angry-i-made-a-sign.jpg So what should I do, be mr serious and drone on like a broken record about accessibility? Is it so bad that I try to address the point in a whimsical way? If you think that telling someone to make a minor change to their text styles is harsh, read more comments here. It's not uncommon to see someone's entire business model questioned and torn apart in the comments; if the worst complaint is about text color, that's a good day! :)

One thing you said does, in fact, really irritate me: "I can read them pretty nicely on my computer." This is not the standard by which accessibility is judged!! It doesn't matter if you can read fine in 7px grey on gray, that doesn't make it accessible.

I'm not just pulling this stuff out of thin air, by the way. http://www.accesskeys.org/tools/color-contrast.html These are widely accepted best practices, and you should follow them if you care about people with abilities different than your own being able to use your site.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#54

Post by jmilloy »

andrewfelix wrote: post #16

It is beautifully designed. But the language still may go over non-coder heads. For example; elements are defined as "designators that define objects within a page" , this already assumes some knowledge. Believe it or not there are a lot of people who have no idea what an 'object' is in this context.

Agreed. "To put this into laymen terms, HTML determines the semantic structure..." doesn't sound like laymen terms to me.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#55

Post by yogsototh »

sequoia wrote: post #53
yogsototh wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, this kind of comment about the appearance of a website should be done by asking directly and nicely to the author. For example you can easily direct message him on twitter instead of polluting the HN comment thread which should always contain useful and informative comment. Second. I can read them pretty nicely on my computer. It is clear a lot of work was made to make this website very nice. Your comment is a…

Judging by the position of my comment in the thread, it is not clear that everyone shares your view of it being merely thread pollution. I wasn't really mad, that comment was a play on this joke, which is fairly well known on the net: http://1389blog.com/pix/im-so-angry-i-made-a-sign.jpg So what should I do, be mr serious and drone on like a broken record about accessibility? Is it so bad that I try to address the po…

It seems you are right. The low color contrast on a small disabled part of this website seems to be the major shared point of view.

Sincerely, it wasn't a personal attack. I am just sad a short comment about the look & feel make the top instead of a comment about the content.

Even if in the end, I tend to agree with you that this color contrast is a design error.

ps: Also, if you visit my website, you will see I am fully aware of accessibility and try to take a good care about it.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#56

Post by philsheard »

stillawesome wrote: post #13

I made this website for a course I am teaching at Code Academy ( http://codeacademy.org ) in Chicago, IL. The website here is a work in progress and is being tested out in class. Thanks for all of the feedback so far, I will do my best to incorporate it. Please stay tuned for updates and more lessons to come!

This feedback thread could be a lesson all on its own for your class - some really useful feedback and it showsthat (markup rules aside) the presentation of information is a hugely subjective area and not something that's clear cut Good or Bad. That should be an encouragement for anyone getting started.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#57

Post by dmlevi »

The flow of the site immediately sticks out in a great way. As a user the navigation bar for the lessons is easily understood.

Each lesson has its own key terms that can be used as a mini nav within the lesson which is helpful.

The code layout is simple and not overwhelming. Its nice to see long hand vs short hand

People can argue all day long about the right content but this seems to be a great start. Clearly the author has put much prep and time into considering this.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#59

Post by probitymike »

fady wrote: post #25
jergason wrote: post #10

I really wish they didn't link the w3schools at the bottom under resources. They are a spammy, and often incorrect, resource for learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. MDN has better docs, no ads, and no trying to sell you dubious "certifications."

i agree with you. they're much better resources out there. honestly, nothing compares to current books about subject, as i feel they give more depth to the why, when, how, etc. i think they better prepare for mastering the topic. have someone read these pages and then head over to an html spec and see if they understand what is being discussed or proposed :) edit: site is nice though.

This site/curriculum was built for our Code Academy (http://codeacademy.org) students currently learning web development and user experience design. Most of our students are beginners, and have already gone through four weeks of Shay's HTML & CSS class. While they are not front-end experts, Shay has done a great job of guiding them through, and now this site will be even more helpful.

The purpose of this curriculum is not the be-all and end-all of all HTML & CSS learning resources, it is focused on created a pathway that students can use to measure their learning. We are definitely focused on improving the curriculum and providing alternative resources for students to the learn from all the other resources.

I wouldn't be where I am in my front-end development without all the free and paid resources online devoted to HTML & CSS, but it would have been really helpful to have something as organized as this to guide my development.

Re: Beginners Guide to HTML/CSS

#60

Post by probitymike »

jmilloy wrote: post #54
andrewfelix wrote: post #16

It is beautifully designed. But the language still may go over non-coder heads. For example; elements are defined as "designators that define objects within a page" , this already assumes some knowledge. Believe it or not there are a lot of people who have no idea what an 'object' is in this context.

Agreed. "To put this into laymen terms, HTML determines the semantic structure..." doesn't sound like laymen terms to me.

Like Shay mentioned below, this website is a work in progress and still being tested out, but right now the website is a supplement to what Shay teaches in class. Shay uses this in class and we mix in lecture, demoing, and lab work to help the Code Academy students understand the content. The students also use this to reflect back on what Shay has taught in the previous classes.

As of now, this is the best standalone resource, but it is a couple weeks old, so we will definitely improve it.

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