Worst Websites of the Year
Worst Websites of the Year: 2012-2005
Worst WebsitesDaily Dose of Bad Design (Daily Sucker)
Current Examples of Bad Web Design Presented Daily (direct link)
Bad Web Design
Overview (direct link)
Free Online Books About Web Design
For reasons I can't quite fathom, some folks put up their books on the web where you can read them for free instead of buying them at the bookstore. Whatever makes you happy.
If you know of any other "good" books (not something like "Java Made Simple") that are online, free, and deal with web design, let me know.
The Web Book
The ultimate beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL
"The Web Book is a free 350-page book that tells you everything you need to know in order to create a home or business Web site from scratch.It covers everything from registering a domain name and renting some hosting space, to creating your first HTML page, to building full online database applications with PHP and MySQL. It also tells you how to market and promote your site, and how to make money from it."
Google Search Engine Optimization Guide
Some of my friends (the ones with businesses on the web) are lazy, f**king idiots who remind me of the song title, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die." In their case, the song title would be, "Everybody wants to be ranked 1st in Google search, but nobody wants to put in any effort."
If my lazy friends would just read and implement what's in this 32-page, picture-filled book, they would improve their site's search rankings. You can't sit on your butt chanting "Allah, Allah" and expect a #1 ranking.
Don't be like friends. Read this book.
The Yale Web Style Guide
I guess some people still buy the book, but why? It's online and free. Sheesh. It's an excellent book and covers most of what you need to know.
Best Practices For Form Design
A free, downloadable, 133-page PDF (4.37Mb) from the guy who wrote the book on forms.
Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines
This is a 161Mb download from the US Department of Health and Human Services that is worth every byte. I wish I knew about this document before I spent three months working up my own checklist about "good design."
View and Print Entire Guidelines Book (2006 ed.) (292 pages, 161 MB)
Here are the individual chapters:
Chapter 1 – Design Process and Evaluation (8 pages, 1.8 MB)
Chapter 2 – Optimizing the User Experience (13 pages, 8.9 MB)
Chapter 3 – Accessibility (7 pages, 2.4 MB)
Chapter 4 – Hardware and Software (5 pages, 2.8 MB)
Chapter 5 – The Homepage(10 pages, 11.8 MB)
Chapter 6 – Page Layout (14 pages, 20.4 MB)
Chapter 7 – Navigation (13 pages, 12.8 MB)
Chapter 8 – Scrolling and Paging (5 pages, 4.4 MB)
Chapter 9 – Headings, Titles, and Labels (9 pages, 7.7 MB)
Chapter 10 – Links (15 pages, 16.7 MB)
Chapter 11 – Text Appearance(11 pages, 11 MB)
Chapter 12 – Lists (9 pages, 6.4 MB)
Chapter 13 – Screen–Based Controls (Widgets) (22 pages, 14.7 MB)
Chapter 14 – Graphics, Images, and Multimedia (16 pages, 16.5 MB)
Chapter 15 – Writing Web Content (11 pages, 10.8 MB)
Chapter 16 – Content Organization(10 pages, 9.8 MB)
Chapter 17 – Search (9 pages, 8.9 MB)
Chapter 18 – Usability Testing (10 pages, 1,020 KB)
Building Accessible Websites
I'm never one to argue when other people want to give it away. I guess that since this book is online nobody else will have an incentive to write a book on the topic.
Building Accessible Websites
The Design Funnel: A Manifesto for Meaningful Design
"Are you a professional designer?
Would you like a process to create more consistently creative work which distinguishes itself from the work of your peers?
Would you like a process which would help translate the often vague, unclear wishes of your clients (and yourself, for that matter) into a clear and solid basis for your design?
This manifesto will show you how."
The Design Funnel (714Kb PDF)
Writing Maintainable CSS
"A CSS System is a reusable set of content-oriented markup patterns and associated CSS created to express a site's individual design. It is the end result of a process that emphasizes up-front planning, loose coupling between CSS and markup, pre-empting browser bugs and overall robustness. It also incorporates a shared vocabulary for developers to communicate the intent of the code."
Writing Maintainable CSS (4.82Mb PDF)
Page Type Classification
"This book has been made to help you learn the 10 broad classifications of type. These are the basic foundations of what you need to learn to learn typography and it is essential for any designer to know how to classify type."
Page Type Classification (2.82Mb PDF)
If you know of any other "good" books (not something like "Java Made Simple") that are online, free, and deal with web design, let me know.