Authors: Z: Jeffrey Zeldman
Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman) founded and publishes A List Apart “for people who make websites” (since 1998) and The Daily Report (since 1995); founded and is chairman of Happy Cog design studios; cofounded the web design conference An Event Apart; cofounded and publishes A Book Apart (“brief books for people who make websites”); wrote the industry-changing guidebook Designing With Web Standards (now in its third edition); cofounded and led The Web Standards Project in the 1990s; stars in the award-winning weekly podcast The Big Web Show; and is on the faculty of the MFA Interaction Design program at School of Visual Arts in NYC.
Articles By This Author
Say No to SOPA
Issue 340November 29, 2011
A List Apart strongly opposes United States H.R.3261 AKA the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), an ill-conceived lobbyist-driven piece of legislation that is technically impossible to enforce, cripplingly burdensome to support, and would, without hyperbole, destroy the internet as we know it. SOPA approaches the problem of content piracy with a broad brush, lights that brush on fire, and soaks the whole web in gasoline. If passed, SOPA will allow corporations to block the domains of websites that are “capable of” or “seem to encourage” copyright infringement. Once a domain is blocked, nobody can access it, unless they’ve memorized the I.P. address. Under SOPA, everything from your grandma’s knitting blog to mighty Google is guilty until proven innocent. Learn why SOPA must not pass, and find out what you can do to help stop it.
Real Fonts on the Web: An Interview with The Font Bureau’s David Berlow
Issue 282April 21, 2009
Is there life after Georgia? We ask David Berlow, co-founder of The Font Bureau, Inc, and the first TrueType type designer, how type designers and web designers can work together to resolve licensing and technology issues that stand between us and real fonts on the web.
Ten Years
Issue 269October 7, 2008
When Google was little more than a napkin sketch and the first dot-com boom was not even a blip, we started a magazine for people who make websites. Celebrate A List Apart's first decade. Join Zeldman for a look back at the way we were—and why we were that way. Find out what we've done and who did it with us, peek into our process, and get a clue about what's next.
Version Targeting: Threat or Menace?
Issue 253February 19, 2008
Version targeting shakes our browser-agnostic faith. Its default behavior runs counter to our expectations, and seems wrong. Yet to offer true DOM support without bringing JScript-authored sites to their knees, version targeting must work the way Microsoft proposes, argues Jeffrey Zeldman.
Understanding Web Design
Issue 249November 20, 2007
We'll have better web design when we stop asking it to be something it's not, and start appreciating it for what it is. It's not print, not video, not a poster—and that's not a problem. Find out why cultural and business leaders misunderstand web design, and learn which other forms it most usefully resembles.
Web 3.0
Issue 210January 16, 2006
Web 2.0 is a fresh-faced starlet on the intertwingled longtail to the disruptive experience of tomorrow. Web 3.0 thinks you are so 2005.
A List Apart 4.0
Issue 201August 22, 2005
From the crown of its cranium to the tips of its Ruby-slippered toes, A List Apart 4.0 is both old and new.
Tackling Usability Gotchas in Large-scale Site Redesigns
Issue 163November 14, 2003
Redesigns can solve old usability problems while creating new ones that must be solved in turn. From the lessons of the ALA 3.0 redesign comes this quick study in remapping content without frustrating readers.
A Standards-Compliant Publishing Tool for the Rest of Us?
Issue 157June 6, 2003
Publishing with web standards is not for experts alone. A new tool hopes to make it easier for anyone. ALA interviews Six Apart’s Anil Dash about his company’s easy-to-use, standards-compliant publishing tool, TypePad.
Fix Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE!
Issue 142April 12, 2002
You’ve done everything right, but your site is breaking in the latest browsers. A faulty DOCTYPE is likely to blame. This essential ALA article will provide you with DOCTYPEs that work, enabling you to fix your site with just one tag.
Better Living Through XHTML
Issue 137February 15, 2002
Everything you wanted to know about converting from HTML to XHTML, including why you’d want to, tools that help, changes in the way browsers display XHTML pages, shortcuts, bugs, workarounds, and other tips you won’t find elsewhere.
Getting Paid
Issue 134January 18, 2002
As businesses struggle to stay in business, many are short–changing vendors or woefully delaying payment. Zeldman laments the difficulties of getting paid.
Mac Browser Roundup (with Håkon Lie and Tantek Çelik)
Issue 130December 24, 2001
We test drove and reviewed the new Mac browsers, then asked browser makers Håkon Lie of Opera and Tantek Çelik of Microsoft to respond to our comments.
Why Don’t You Code for Netscape?
Issue 129December 7, 2001
Long considered the Holy Grail of web design, “backward compatibility” has its place; but at this point in web development history, shouldn’t we be more concerned about forward compatibility? ALA makes the case for authoring to web standards instead of browser quirks.
Patents, Royalties, and Web Standards
Issue 122October 5, 2001
This week there is only one web story that matters. The W3C has written a patent policy that opens the door to royalty payments on web standards.
SMIL When You Play That
Issue 101March 16, 2001
A gentle introduction to the SVG and SMIL standards for programmable vector graphics and accessible rich media.
From Table Hacks to CSS Layout: A Web Designer’s Journey
Issue 99February 16, 2001
Redesigning A List Apart using CSS should have been easy. It wasn’t. The first problem was understanding how CSS actually works. The second was getting it to work in standards-compliant browsers. A journey of discovery.
To Hell With Bad Browsers
Issue 99February 16, 2001
In a year or two, all sites will be designed with standards that separate structure from presentation (or they will be built with Flash 7). We can watch our skills grow obsolete, or start learning standards-based techniques. In fact, since the latest versions of IE, Navigator, and Opera already support many web standards, if we are willing to let go of the notion that backward compatibility is a virtue, we can stop making excuses and start using these standards now. At ALA, beginning with Issue No. 99, we've done just that. Join us.
Survivor! (How Your Peers are Coping With the Dotcom Crisis)
Issue 95January 19, 2001
It’s ugly out there, but how bad is it, really? We asked 40 colleagues to share how they were coping (or not) with the layoffs and business failures plaguing our industry.
Much Ado About 5K
Issue 63May 12, 2000
A full-fledged website under 5K? Some of the brightest people in the industry swore it could not be done. Yet hundreds of developers not only came in under the 5K budget, they built great sites in the process. Zeldman explores how the 5K Awards rocked the web.
Why IE5/Mac Matters
Issue 57March 31, 2000
It complies with two key web standards. And leaves out two others. It's IE5 Macintosh Edition, the first browser on any platform to truly support HTML 4 and CSS-1. Its accessibility enhancements put the user in charge, and its clever new features solve long-standing cross-platform and usability problems. All this ... but still no XML or DOM. Zeldman explains what IE5/Mac means to the web.
Why Gecko Matters: What Netscape’s Upcoming Browser Will Mean to the Web
Issue 56March 24, 2000
Netscape is about to unleash its new browser, built around the Gecko rendering engine. Theoretically the first completely standards-compliant web browser, Gecko enters a world where most people use IE5 (which is not completely standards-compliant). Is Netscape’s effort too little, too late? Or is it the beginning of a new and better way to create websites? Zeldman articulates The Web Standards Project’s position and explains what Netscape’s browser will mean to the web.
Netscape Bites Bullet
Issue 22June 18, 1999
Netscape’s bold move to fully support the W3C DOM and sacrifice backward compatibility raises a few concerns and much hope.
Fear of Style Sheets
Issue 8March 12, 1999
“No-fault CSS” can help you work around frightened clients, buggy software, and readers who still love last year’s browser. In Part One of a series, Zeldman walks you through the fear.
