Posting Date: July 12, 2002

WebWord Comment -- I have decided to create a book club for WebWord. The idea is quite simple. I will pick a book to read and we will all discusss it together on WebWord. I set up a notification list for the Book Club on the WebWord Subsciptions page. To get the ball rolling I have decided that our first book will be Constructing Accessible Web Sites published by glasshaus (ISBN: 1904151000). We will begin our discussion of the book on, or about, July 1st. That gives you a little over two weeks to read the book. (Erratum: We'll start the discussion on August 1st.)

Reader Comments...

Don't you mean August 1?

dave

Posted by: on July 12, 2002 01:51 PM

That leaves $15.01 worth of merchandise left for me to purchase so that I get Amazon's free shipping. Tell me the next book that will be read so I can buy it.

Second, that free shipping is slow. By the time the book arrives I'll be lucky if I have one week to read the book.

My humble suggestion: have all members suggest books, then have everyone vote to select the books to be read for the year (or whatever time period).

Posted by: Jack on July 12, 2002 02:24 PM

1. Dave, I do mean 1-August-2002. Thanks for catching that typo!

2. Jack, thanks for the comments, as always. The community voting idea to pick the book is good, but not totally easy to set up. I'll think about as a future enhancement. If I forget, please bring it up again.

3. The book for September will be Son of Web Pages That Suck by Vincent Flanders and published by Sybex (ISBN: 0782140203).

4. I know that the schedule is tight for Accessible Web Sites but I really want to get things going. If you can't participate for the 1-Aug-2002 review, don't worry! You will have plenty of time for Son of Web Pages That Suck in September.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 12, 2002 02:42 PM

Weird, I just bought that book to read over the next two weekends, how did you know?

Posted by: Alastair C on July 12, 2002 08:20 PM

John, does this book talk specifics about accessible design? I mean teaching code.

I have one accessibility book already and it's only a primer on the concepts. The actual design advice is vague. For example, "don't use tables for layout." Uh, ok. Now give me the specifics on how to code without tables.

I'd really like to see a good HTML/CSS book that incorporates accessibility awareness throughout - instead of handling accessibility as a separate issue requiring a separate book.

Posted by: Jack on July 13, 2002 02:57 AM

Jack,

The book covers the basics of CSS. There is a 30 page chapter on the topic. Check out the Table of Contents.

Regarding CSS references, I'm going to be reading Eric Meyer on CSS. I have on my desk right now. It is a beautiful book; just full of excellent examples and code.

By the way, if you want to code without tables using CSS, check out Glish's CSS Layout Techniques.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 13, 2002 09:51 AM

You can be sure i won't be taking part in this.

Are you trying to do an Andrew Sullivan on us, John? ;)

Posted by: MadMan on July 13, 2002 12:15 PM

MadMan, you know I like to experiment. I throw things against the wall to see if they stick. If people like the idea, I'll keep doing it. If they don't, I won't.

Just curious, why are you against the idea? If you could elaborate...?

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 13, 2002 12:25 PM

Hi Jack,

As John said, Eric Meyer is pretty much the godfather of CSS, and the accessibility book in question does give some code examples.

However, what really makes it worthwhile is the higher level guidance it (seems to) give on how to use the WAI guidelines. The WAI guidelines and associated techniques are very in depth, but this book will help to give you priorities.
Otherwise all the WAI stuff can be a little overwhelming.

hth,

-Alastair

(Just getting through the TOC at the moment!)

WAI Guidelines:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/
WAI Techniques:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-CSS-TECHS/

Posted by: Alastair C on July 13, 2002 08:37 PM

Interresting idea and subject, maybe I will receive the book from Amazon... in 15 days.

I'm not staying in the same part of the earth than you do, so please consider as you can that it takes a longer time, and also an higher price, for us to participate.

Franck

Posted by: Franck on July 15, 2002 02:43 AM

Frank and others, please note that I am NOT asking for people to order through Amazon. Instead, I am ONLY asking that IF you order through Amazon, please use the link that I have provided to the book. If you can find the book cheaper or through a local source -- that's great! You can still participate. ANYONE can participate.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 15, 2002 07:02 AM

Experimentation is good.

Why won't I participate? Because:

1) I live in India. So... many of the books you'll recommend will probably not have Indian reprints. Hence it will take a long time to arrive from a foreign supplier, cost me a hell of a lot of money (we don't earn as much as you Americans), and the shipping will be bloody expensive as well.

2) It's possible I already have the book you recommend and have already read it. I don't want to go back and read it chapter by chapter again.

3) I may already have two books on CSS (for example) when you recommend another one. I probably don't want yet another one on my bookshelf.

4) I may be busy with work when you're free and free when you're busy. I may not have the time to read a book when you want me to.

5) I already review books. Now see reason 4.

Those are my reasons. Number 1 is probably the most important.

Posted by: MadMan on July 15, 2002 12:20 PM

Thanks for the feedback MadMan. Your first reason is a very good reason!

If you have written a review of a book that we read, please let me know so that I can point to it. Thanks.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 15, 2002 01:21 PM

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