Web Design, Development & Usability

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
-- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was created in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. W3C has more than 400 Member organizations from around the world and has earned international recognition for its contributions to the growth of the Web. This website is very useful if you are looking for technical specifications.

Web Accessibility Initiative - check this out for Quick Tips to make accessible web sites.

Internet & World Wide Web: How to Program

The goal of this comprehensive book is to introduce readers with little or no programming experience to the exciting world of Web-based applications by teaching the fundamentals needed to program on the Internet. Hundreds of LIVE-CODE examples (i.e., complete, working programs) of real applications throughout the book and on the accompanying CD allow readers to run the applications and see and hear the outputs. The authors instruct readers about incorporating multimedia into Web pages and Web-based applications to enhance the presentation of online content. Contains coverage of introductory programming principles, various markup languages (XHTML, Dynamic HTML and XML), several scripting languages (JavaScript, VBScript, Perl, Python, PHP, ColdFusion and Flash ActionScript), Web servers (IIS and Apache) and relational databases (MySQL). New in this edition are chapters on Macromedia ColdFusion and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

For novice programmers who want to get started building real-world, industrial-strength, Web-based applications!

Kaplan University Online offers an online program for the Internet and Website Development Certificate.

The Art Institute Online offers programs that are designed for busy professionals who are trying to balance work and an education:

Diploma in Web Design
Associate of Science in Multimedia & Web Design
Bachelor of Science in Game Art & Design
Bachelor of Science in Multimedia & Web Design

The Web Site Usability Handbook explores the growing field of Web usability, with equal emphasis on theory and practicality, and focuses primarily on measuring usability accurately and applying it to formal and informal testing. The concept of a usability toolbox - a collection of tools and techniques - is presented, along with sound reasoning for the use of each component. The tools vary from index-card sorting to heuristic evaluation to focus groups. There is some fascinating material also about the human factors of usability, such as the mechanics of vision and the idiosyncrasies of human memory. An excellent resource.

Quality Web Systems: Performance, Security, and Usability addresses the key success factors of quality web systems to include: functionality, ease of use, compatibility with a variety of browsers, security, and system performance and scalability. The authors emphasize that engineering these qualities into the system throughout the development lifecycle - while performing relevant testing - prevents flaws that later can prove fatal and produces a product
that is well-received by customers.

The book offers a guide to performing test execution using several leading automated test tools. Also provided is a detailed comparison of tools offered by vendors such as Mercury, Rational, Segue, Compuware and Empirix.

Do you worry about your web server being hacked?

The SecuritySpace Security Audits can examine your network for unwanted open ports and potential security vulnerabilities. Providing detailed and comprehensive report on the findings, this popular auditing service also suggests solutions for each security weakness found. Following are just two of the service packages they now provide:

Security Audit Scheduling Service - Schedule your audits at the time and day you want, and have them automatically started without intervention. This new scheduling capability is added to the monthly and yearly subscription of Standard and Advanced Auditing services, providing more flexibility to suit your needs.

Recurring Auditing & Performance Monitoring Service - This package ensures that your system is tested against the latest vulnerabilites on a recurring basis (either weekly or monthly), and also closely monitored 24X7 for up time and performance, all year round, giving you the confidence and ease to best manage your security and performance needs.