Accessible Header Images With CSS And XHTML [CSS Tutorials]
Accessible Header Images With CSS And XHTML [CSS Tutorials]
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You know content in header images isn’t accessbile by, for instance, those using a screen reader. But do you know how to get around the problem? Douglas uses CSS …
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- Documents
- Client files
- Copy
- Proofs
- Staged/Development area (folder for a “clone of the site” where you can make changes and get sign off)
- Downloads
- reset.css
- main.css
- structure.css
- typography.css
- print.css
- helpers.css
- More consistant rendering due to reusing ideal CSS techniques
- Easier editing and maintenance as you can better recall what names mean
- The start of code that can be saved and reused every time
- A class that floats an image left / right and gives it some margin
- The structure for an unordered list navigation
- The structure for a form
- external link, pdf and download icons
- clearfix
- png fix
- Typeography baselines and hierarchies
- etc…
- Font sizing (all normal text is 12px, featured text is 14px bold)
- Margin’s (normal margin is 10px between elements, margin between two content blocks is 40px, etc…)
- All navigation tabs will have 15px height and 13px font
- etc…
- Fluid Layout Using A Grid
- Adaptive Content
- Images In A Fluid Layout
- jQuery Masonry
- Smart Columns with jQuery & CSS
- Text Zooming
Accessible Header Images With CSS And XHTML [CSS Tutorials]
You know content in header images isn’t accessbile by, for instance, those using a screen reader. But do you know how to get around the problem? Douglas uses CSS …SonSpring | Easy Random CSS Backgrounds
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JavaScript / DOM / AJAX: jquery: rotating css file using a setinterval, problem with ie … only shows up if the screen is in view when the css swap happens. …CSS at the Bottom
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Ben Nadel’s blog @ Kinky Solutions … <cfset VARIABLES.Instance.CSS[ “border-bottom-width” … <cfset VARIABLES.Instance.CSS[ “margin-bottom” …8 methods to bring your front end coding to rockstar levels
There are a lot of good front end developers out their right now. If you fancy yourself as a front end editor then you really should be looking at how you can differentiate yourself from the rest. Yes there are lots of “good” front end developers, but there are not a whole lot of excellent front end developers.
1. Improve Your Semantic Names
If you work in a team or ever revisit your code and need to update it then you should think about the quality of your class and ID names. It is not uncommon for developers to use class names like “box”, “wrapper”, or “container.” While you may think that these naming conventions or “semanitc enough” none of them describe the content that is inside them. Instead consider using HTML5 spec’s such as “content-sub”, “section”, “content-aside” or “content-sup.”
You and your team will have a much easier time sorting through code that describes the content than trying to remember the details of “box.”
Read more about semantic naming from Andy Clarke and A List Apart.
2. Improve the Organization of Your Files
I think it is reasonable safe to assume that most developers have at least started to organize their files by type (ie: a folder for images, css, javascript, etc…). You can go a step further and improve the organization even more, particularly any folder that is going to have a lot of files (such as Images in particular and CSS as a secondary.)
I find it best to create sub folders with in images and separate images based on design structure, buttons, headlines, photos, etc…
There are plenty of other folders you may want to create to keep the updating and growth of a site easy and efficient, including:
The Elements CSS Framework does a great job of organizing files based on the normal client/provider workflow.
3. Use Commenting in Your XHTML
Any time you end up developing complex layouts you are bound to use a lot of <div>s in your markup. This can be particularly confusing to go back and edit as it becomes hard to figure out which div is being closed where. You may see three </div>s all in a row.
To combat this simply add some coments at each </div> (or any other closing element if you find that it will be helpful) to let you know what element was just closed.
<div id="header" class="section">
<div id="header-logo">
<h1>HTMLiZER</h1>
</div><!--/#header-logo-->
</div><!--/#header-->
If you find it useful you can take it one step further and comment the primary area you would be editing (such as the main content area, sidebar, etc…)
4. Segment Your CSS
For small 4 – 5 page brochure sites your CSS will be pretty manageable even if you don’t spend the time and effort you should into organizing and commenting. Once you start developing web applications or large sites with a vast array of design “modules” you should make sure that you organize your CSS in way that is easy to manage.
I recommend splitting your css into logical different files for better organization, such as:
This way you don’t have to sort through all of the typography styling to find the area where you defined the size of the header. Likewise if you want to adjust the headings it is pretty simple to find it through a small typography.css file rather than a huge file that has everything.
5. Create a TOC With Comments in Your CSS
Every CSS file you plan on editing and extending over time should have a table of contents at the begining and a headline seperator at every section. This will allow you to easily jump to a section using “find” rather than scrolling for that one area that had the CSS you are hoping to modify.
EX
/***********
TOC:
=1: Header
=2: Content
=3: Footer
=4: Navigation
=5: Portfolio
****************/
/* ********* =1: HEADER *********** */
#header { … }
6. Compress and Combine Your CSS files
Even though it is easier to work on a site when you segment and organize your css into several different file names, it actually causes your site to load slower. The more calls the browser has to make to the server for additional files the slower it will load.
Before deploying your css files you should combine and compress them. Compressing them removes any uncessary whitespace, comments, etc… that is unnecissary when the site is live.
There are several handy tools to do this including this online version.
7. Create your own framework (or improve on another one)
As you get more experience under your belt you will find that you use the same methods and naming conventions over and over. This is helpful for several reasons and it should be encouraged. It has lots of benefits including:
Chances are that you end up rewriting the same type of code over and over again, simply because you don’t have it stored somewhere. Some examples may be:
Rather than reusing these bits of codes write modules into your own CSS framework (or you could imrpove on another one). This way you can streamline the development process so it takes less time and improve the consistancy of your work.
8. Develop your CSS to be modular or “object oriented”
You could assign every bit of code an unique ID or adjust the margins and padding per instance. Lots of coders do this to try and get the CSS as close to the designers comp as possible. However this is inefficient in development time and file size. Establish a set rule for differnt types of content and how they should be styled, this should include basic things such as:
This way you don’t have to rewrite the code for every new item added to the site. Additionally it will keep the site feeling consistant and well balanced visually. If all elements and every page follows the same rhythm it will feel more unified as a whole.
Some call this object oriented css, it is worth looking into for rockstar like front end coding.
YouTube – Basics of CSS: Making CSS columns and headers (part2)
Chapter1:Basics of CSS (part2) 3. Making CSS Columns and HeadersKey pinpoints in this tutorial:- how to center a CSS site- make a nav, header, and content co…Beginning CSS Web Development
… overflowing content and learn to create incredibly simple CSS rollover images. … In other words, if there is too much content, the overflow value will dictate …
Those familiar with fluid / elastic layouts know that they can be a little more challenging to implement compared to fixed-width layouts. With the advent of wide-screen monitors, one of the biggest advantages of fluid-width layouts is the ability to maximize available space.
It was only a year ago when 1024×768 was still the dominant screen size. However, as of January 2009, 57% of the population are on desktops higher than 1024×768. The number of users still on 1024×768 has declined sharply from 48% of the previous year to a mere 36%. On the other than, the users on widescreen desktop are rapidly growing, thanks in part to marketing by HDTV makers.
Kayla Knight has written a very good article on the topic of building good websites with fluid layout.
She comes up with 6 techniques to do this, which can be summed up as follows:
She also provides helpful examples and links to all the necessary tools needed to achieve the perfect fluid / elastic layout. With this, designers are armed and ready for the next evolution in layout design.