So, when I picked up the book Learning Web Design by Jennifer Niederst, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was published by O'Reilly. That told me right away that the "tech" was going to be strong. But this is a book targetted at beginners, not geeks. It says right on the cover "A Beginner's Guide to HTML, Graphics, and Beyond".
Is it Really for Beginners?
Yes it is! As it says in the first chapter, it's never too late to start, and this book is a great way to start. It is not a book on how to write HTML. It covers that, but that's only part of it. You start out with what the Web is, how to look at a URL and putting up a Web page.
Beyond HTML
It goes beyond HTML to cover things like design, graphics, and multimedia. You'll learn about concepts like "designing above the fold" and what to do when things don't turn out as you expect. Building a Web page is so much more than just HTML and graphics. And this book starts slow, takes you through the basics and leads you into design and graphics so that before you know it you'll have not only a Web page, but a Web design.
The Bottom Line
This is a really good beginners HTML book. It doesn't talk down to the reader, and has all the information you need to create a Web page. As it says in the first chapter, it's never too late to start, and this book is a great way to start. It is not a book on how to write HTML. It covers that, but that's only part of it. You start out with what the Web is, how to look at a URL and putting up a Web page.
