#30676
HTML 5 introduces new elements to HTML for the first time since the last millennium. New structural elements include aside, figure, and section. New inline elements include time, meter, and progress. New embedding elements include video and audio. New interactive elements include details, datagrid, and command.
Harold, Elliotte Rusty. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Standards>HTML5
#21753
Extensible Markup Language, or XML, provides a way to mark up content that adds information about its purpose. With the information stored using XML, an application known as a parser can reliably extract the relevant information and process it accordingly for multiple situations.
#30259
Optimized and Predictable Ajax Applications
Wouldn't it be nice for developers if all browsers, computer models, and Ajax application users were the same? Maybe, but the reality is that they are not. Developers face a myriad of challenges when developing applications that behave predictably across browsers, computers, and individual user settings. When users transfer Ajax applications from one browser type to another (and especially when they transfer an Ajax application into a Web service portal), they're not guaranteed the same browser experience because of each browser's inherent limitations. In this article, author Judith Myerson gives a brief discussion of these limitations and what pitfalls to avoid, including some helpful solutions for optimizing browser differences.
Myerson, Judith. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Ajax
#30662
Optimized and Predictable Ajax Applications
Wouldn't it be nice for developers if all browsers, computer models, and Ajax application users were the same? Maybe, but the reality is that they are not. Developers face a myriad of challenges when developing applications that behave predictably across browsers, computers, and individual user settings. When users transfer Ajax applications from one browser type to another (and especially when they transfer an Ajax application into a Web service portal), they're not guaranteed the same browser experience because of each browser's inherent limitations. In this article, author Judith Myerson gives a brief discussion of these limitations and what pitfalls to avoid, including some helpful solutions for optimizing browser differences.
Myerson, Judith. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Standards>Ajax
#20595
OVID Tutorial: Mastering the Complexity of Creating Highly Satisfying User Experiences
A description and presentation materials from a tutorial given on OVID at the CHI 2002 and MITE 2002 conferences. OVID is a method to use while performing User Engineering.
#18662
OVID: Object, View and Interaction Design
OVID (Objects, Views, and Interaction Design) is a formal methodology for designing the user experience based on the analysis of users' goals and tasks. Drawn from the disciplines of engineering, it is ideally suited to interface and component-based development. The method is applied after user goals, tasks and objects have been identified, through other means. The output of the method is an abstract diagram that describes the architecture of the desired design, from the users' point of view. The diagram is used in conjunction with the visual specifications to enable implementation of the final diagram.
#30666
Pay Attention to the CSS @media Rule: When to Define the Screen Media Type
The CSS @media rule is a useful way to target an HTML or XML document to an intended output device. Use of the print media is now fairly widespread, and provides a much cleaner means of creating printer-friendly pages than does a separate 'printable version.' The use of the screen media has been somewhat underused, perhaps because of an overly general assumption that screen is merely the 'default rendering.' However, in regard to positioning--especially absolute positioning--the screen media type has an important meaning that is not covered by media-free stylesheet rules.
Mertz, David. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>CSS
#31638
Wasting server resources can impact the performance of Ajax applications, resulting in excessive HTTP requests, high memory consumption, and the need for an unusual amount of polling to make applications work. Regular developerWorks author Judith Myerson suggests some open source tools and Firefox add-ons you can use to improve or solve problems with your Ajax applications.
Myerson, Judith. IBM (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Ajax
#28040
This article demonstrates several ways to create configurable PHP applications. It also discusses the ideal configuration points in an application, and finding the balance point between an application that is too configurable and one that is too closed.
Herrington, Jack D. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#21621
Planet Blog: Bringing Development Communities Together
Explains how RSS feeds from weblogs can be aggregated to enhance communication among groups of software developers, and how XML/RDF can be used to describe multiple communities.
Dumbill, Edd. IBM (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>Blogging
#30673
The Power of Syndication at the Click of a Button
Have you ever wanted to bring the technical know-how of developerWorks straight to your workspace or personalized iGoogle, Netvibes, or My Yahoo page? Now you can with developer gizmos. It's the power of syndication at the click of the mouse: no programming, training, or registration required. Add any developerWorks custom feeds, or a developerWorks spaces portlet as a Google Gadget, Netvibes Module, or Yahoo Widget directly to your preferred syndication mashup, keep up with developerWorks feeds on your Apple iPhone, or download a developerWorks Gadget for Google Desktop with the content you select from developerWorks.
Pfeiffer, Melinda. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>RSS
#23908
Online documentation and software messages are important elements of the end-to-end user experience. They have a direct impact on the productivity of users and affect the total cost of ownership. This article discusses designing and executing usability testing of these two important components of the overall product offering. Based on usability tests that were performed on the IBM DB2® Universal Database™ (DB2 UDB) and IBM® WebSphere® Commerce and software products, the combined experiences provide guidance for usability professionals and information developers who need to organize and run such tests for a first time.
Markov, Nikolay and Uliyana Markova. IBM (2004). Design>User Interface>Software>Help
#23912
A Pragmatic Framework for Selecting Empirical or Inspection Methods to Evaluate Usability 
Within the literature of human-computer interaction there is a vigorous debate on the relative merits of two classes of evaluation methods; those that carry out an empirical study of users' task performance and those that employ experts to inspect a design. The central themes in this debate are effectiveness and cost-efficiency. While these concerns are important in commercial usability work, an analysis of project goals and constraints may be more useful in selecting and justifying methods.
Englefield, Paul. IBM (2004). Articles>Usability>Methods
#25788
Preparing Your Web Site for Machine Translation
Machine translation is a sophisticated technology. However, it is not as sophisticated as human language. Understanding how MT works on the Web helps designers and developers prepare Web pages for MT. Preparatory tactics improve the usability of MT output.
O'Connell, Theresa A. IBM (2001). Articles>Language>Localization>Machine Translation
#23506
The Principle of Least Astonishment
When computers are at their most usable, we don't even notice them; when they are at their least, they astonish us. Here, Peter explores the Principle of Least Astonishment, and how it can help you develop better interfaces.
Seebach, Peter. IBM (2001). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design
#25467
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML format that describes scale-independent graphics, with good support in free software and commercial tools. In this installment, David introduces scripting and animation with SVG, and touches on manipulating SVG through DOM. Because SVG is XML, it lends itself to transformation and/or generation with any of the tools and libraries you might use for XML generally.
Mertz, David. IBM (2005). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>SVG
#25789
This tutorial illustrates various aspects of Hamlet programming as it provides a number of practical Hamlet examples. The examples are part of WebZEC (Web-based Zurich Event Console) -- a fast, browser-based console to quickly navigate in intrusion-detection alarms. With these samples, you can develop a good understanding how to use Hamlets for Web-based application development and how Hamlets work.
Pawlitzek, Rene. IBM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Programming
#30675
Quick and Dirty Web Applications with Bookmarklets
Web 2.0 is well known for the fact that it's not built on breathtaking new inventions, but rather on renewed emphasis on age-old Web technologies. One of those age-old technologies that is enjoying a revival in Web 2.0 is bookmarklets. A bookmarklet is essentially a Web application shoehorned into a regular browser bookmark. This article includes a fully functioning bookmarklet and installation instructions you can use to highlight text on any Web page and search IBM developerWorks for that text.
Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>DHTML>Web Browsers
#13656
Rapid Web Development: How to Create Flexible Sites Quickly Using Standards Like CSS and XHTML
What do you do when you need to have a Web site done 'yesterday'? This article answers that question, showing you how to create sites quickly and flexibly using Web standards like cascading style sheets (CSS), structural HTML, and server-side includes. It contains examples that demonstrate how rapid Web development not only streamlines the process, but also makes updating easier.
Lewin, James. IBM (2001). Design>Content Management>Web Design
#28857
Real World Rails: Caching in Rails
Ruby on Rails is increasingly showing up as the base framework for sophisticated and scalable applications of medium and large size. Because Ruby is an interpreted language, to bend Rails to your will, you will need to employ many different caching strategies. This article explores the caching strategies that are available to you, including the ones we use for ChangingThePresent.org.
Tate, Bruce. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Ruby on Rails
#27749
Rescue Terrible HTML with TagSoup
XHTML is a friendly enough format for parsing and screen-scraping, but the Web still has a lot of messy HTML out there. In this tip Uche Ogbuji demonstrates the use of TagSoup to turn just about any HTML into neat XHTML.
Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>HTML>XHTML
#10612
We'll look at why privacy is a much-abused buzzword. The e-commerce industry has failed miserably to produce consumer confidence; not because we haven't tried to do so, but because we've done it through dog-and-pony shows, rather than real respect for personal data. It is particularly crucial to note, in this context, that not everything that is legal is acceptable. We discuss the basic principles of an effective privacy policy: It must be short and readable, and the customer must like it.
Seebach, Peter. IBM (2001). Articles>Usability>Privacy
#29961
Save Time and Code with XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0
Three interesting new features in XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0 are the item data type, the to operator, and the concept of sequences. Build a sample application that uses these features to generate a sophisticated HTML view of an XML document, and with the new features in XSLT 2.0, create shorter stylesheets that are easier to maintain. Along the way, spend a bit of time on data typing in XSLT 2.0, and learn to use the new
Tidwell, Doug. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>XML>XSL
#26886
Search Engine Optimization Basics, Part 1: Improve Your Standing in Search Engines
Making your Web site attractive to search engines is a key factor for your success as a Web site developer. Get the basic information you need to organically optimize your Web site in this four-part series. In Part 1, you'll receive a foundation in search engine optimization so you can organically optimize your Web site and create Web pages that are usable, accessible, and friendly to search engines.
Banks, L. Jeannette. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization
#26884
Search Engine Optimization Basics, Part 2: SEO Keyword and Infrastructure Strategies
Making your Web site attractive to search engines is a key factor for your success as a Web site developer. Get the basic information you need to organically optimize your Web site in this four-part series. In Part 1, you learned the background of why white hat SEO is good for your site. In Part 2, you'll start optimizing. You'll create a strategy for choosing and optimizing your keywords from the top-left-down and learn more about other factors that can influence your success in search engines.
Banks, L. Jeannette. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization
