Control Block Formatting Context

This excellent free article, Control Block Formatting Context, by Zoe Gillenwater is at Community MX.

In order to become a skilled CSS developer, you need to understand the underlying concepts of CSS that make it work and not just how to produce certain visual effects. The ‘block formatting context’ is one of those concepts that drives how CSS affects your page without you even knowing it.
The easiest way to think about a block formatting context is as an isolated container that controls the layout of the boxes within it without regard for elements outside of it. For instance, when you float a div, it establishes a new block formatting context. Nothing inside the float will interact with anything outside the float.

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Call for Entries: Style Me Challenge

The Style Me Challenge invites designers to create the CSS for an XHTML page. I had a similar Style Me exercise in my first book, and want to expand it for my new book, Mastering Integrated HTML & CSS. The new book is due out from Wiley Publishing in the Spring of 2007. There will be a full color insert in the book where I plan to showcase some of the designs created for a new Style Me Challenge. If your CSS design is chosen for the book, your name and a link to your website will be included, as well as a brief description of you or your design business. In addition to the free publicity, you’ll get a copy of the book.

Get all the details and download the files needed to submit an entry.

WCAG 2.0 still getting plenty of criticism

Complaints about WCAG 2.0 continue to fill the blogosphere. Joe Clark’s position is clear and strong at Whither WAI and WCAG? Le blog personnel de Joe Clark. There are others joining the chorus, but you can get the main points from Joe Clark’s articles. A very complete set of references to articles about WCAG 2.0 can be found at the Web Design Reference site.

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Accessify update on tools and wizards

Latest Accessibility News on Accessify | Accessibility Tools – An update gives us the information that the accessible table builder wizard is back in business and all new. I’ve mentioned the tools and wizards on this site many times to many people as being very helpful, so I’m joining in on the reminder that the tools and wizards are available on Accessify and worth a look.

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HTML emails – finally a new source of info

The “How do I write an HTML email” question is a perennial. For years, people have referred to the same rather old resources for information about this. Now there’s a new article about it, Vitamin Features – HTML Emails – Taming the Beast, by David Greiner that sheds more up-to-date light on the subject. Greiner’s article offers guidelines for, how you should design your email, how you should code it and finally the essential content you should include.

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A direct exchange of course materials for teachers

I saw an ad for this site, TeachersPayTeachers.com – Helping Creative Minds Come Together, at the bottom of my daily Wordsmith mail today and clicked on it immediately. This site launched on April 2006 as a spot where educators can buy and sell original course materials. As of this morning they show 231 products available, but nothing is yet listed in the computer science category. Judging from the categories under University Discipline that is the most likely category for topics of interest to readers here, unless they intend to add more refined categories as they receive materials to sell.

I, for one, will keep an eye on this site and hope that promising materials that will help teachers with course work that teaches web design using standards and best practices begins to appear.

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