The HTML Pocket Guide

314 Pages·2010·1.706 MB·English

by  Hyslop, Bruce

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Here is your essential companion to HTML. The HTML Pocket Guide is a
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valuable companion to creating standards-compliant markup that will help
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Web designers and developers quickly defi ne content and meaning. The
HTML Pocket Guide: L
■ Covers all elements in HTML 4, XHTML 1, and HTML5.
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■ Teaches you when—and explains why and how—to use each element o
and attribute.
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■ Provides code examples that demonstrate common uses and best practices.
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■ Shows how to build lean, semantic, accessible markup. t
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■ Details the changes in HTML5 to X/HTML elements it inherits.
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■ Notes deprecated or obsolete elements and attributes and what to i
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use instead.
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■ Tells you how to start using HTML5 today.
Plus, visit the support site at www.htmlfi ver.com/html-pocket-guide/ for
additional coverage, code examples, HTML templates you may use, and more.
BOOK LEVEL Computer Book Shelf Category: HTML
beginning Covers: Elements and attributes in HTML 4,
XHTML 1, and HTML5
intermediate
advanced US $14.99 CAN $17.99
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-69974-9
ISBN-10: 0-321-69974-2
Hyslop
5 1 4 9 9 Bruce Hyslop
Peachpit Press 9 780321 699749 Ginormous knowledge, pocket-sized.
www.peachpit.com Cover Design: Peachpit Press
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Peachpit Press.
The HTML
PocketGuide
BruceHyslop
Ginormous knowledge, pocket-sized.
The HTML Pocket Guide
Bruce Hyslop
Peachpit Press
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
Find us on the Web at: www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to: [email protected]
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education.
Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Hyslop
Executive Editor: Clifford Colby
Editor: Kim Wimpsett
Technical Editor: Michael Bester
Production Editor: Tracey Croom
Compositor: David Van Ness
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover Design: Peachpit Press
Interior Design: Peachpit Press
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission
for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While
every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author
nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or
damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions con-
tained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their prod-
ucts are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and
Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the
owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout
this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with
no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade
name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-69974-9
ISBN-10: 0-321-69974-2
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
To Mom and Dad, and your nearly 45 years of marriage.
To Merri, my birthday mate; you are greatly missed.
About the Author
Bruce Hyslop has 13 years of experience in Web development, with a
focus on interface technical architecture and development. He is the
senior director of the Interface Engineering Group (IEG) at Schematic, an
interactive agency based in the United States. In this role, Bruce oversees
companywide efforts to define and implement best practices regarding
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and accessibility wherever they may be applied:
the browser, desktop, mobile devices, and emerging platforms.
An early adopter of Web standards, Bruce has helmed IEG for more than
120 projects, including clients such as ABC, BBC, Dell, Logitech, Microsoft,
NBC Universal, Nokia, and Target, among others. In addition to his develop-
ment and writing efforts, Bruce teaches a CSS course at UCLA Extension.
Acknowledgments
First I’d like to say a very grateful thank you to Nancy Davis and Cliff Colby
for the opportunity and for your continued patience and support, of which
I’m very appreciative.
A most sincere thank-you goes out to Nicole Neopolitan and Patrick Ty.
I could not possibly have done this without your support.
Thank you, Kim and Michael, for all your editing suggestions and
improvements and for catching my errors. It was always very comforting
to know you’d be reviewing my words with care and experienced eyes.
Thank you, Charlene Will, Tracey Croom, Cory Borman, and David Van Ness,
for taking great care in the design and being such a pleasure with which
to work.
Thank you, James Minkin, (from me and on behalf of our readers!) for
indexing the content .
Thank you, everyone at Peachpit with whom I didn’t have an opportunity
to work with directly but who contributed to the book’s efforts and will
continue to do so.
Thank you to my fellow IEGers at Schematic for their continued inspira-
tion, and to Michael Roldan, Tommy Ly, Karen Lauritsen, Scott Hutchinson,
and Robert Reinhardt.
Last, but certainly not least, a special acknowledgment to those of you
who were particularly neglected while I wrote this. You often inspired me
in quiet but profound ways. I have a lot of catching up to do!
Contents
Introduction........................................................vii
Part 1:  HTML Basics.............................................1
Chapter 1: HTML Basics .............................................3
Part 2:  HTML Elements and Guidance .................25
Chapter 2: Primary Structure and Sections ....................27
Chapter 3: Document Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Chapter 4: Lists....................................................69
Chapter 5: Text ....................................................93
Chapter 6: Embedded Content (Images and Objects) ....... 141
Chapter 7: Forms .................................................157
Chapter 8: Tabular Data.........................................185
Chapter 9: Scripting .............................................203
Chapter 10: Frames...............................................213
vi The HTML Pocket Guide
Part 3:  HTML5 Elements and Guidance.............. 221
Chapter 11: Primary Structure and Sections...................223
Chapter 12: Text ..................................................245
Chapter 13: E mbedded Content
(Images, Media, and More)........................263
Chapter 14: Forms................................................277
Chapter 15: Interactive Elements...............................285

Appendix: Alphabetical HTML Elements Page Listing.......294
Index ..............................................................296
The HTML Pocket Guide
Introduction
Welcome to the HTML Pocket Guide! I’m excited you’re here.
HTML—the humble markup language that helped spur a new era
of information sharing two decades ago—is hotter than ever today
with the emergence of HTML5. So, now is a great time to either learn
about HTML for the first time or be sure you’re on top of the latest
developments.
In this introduction, I summarize what you can expect to learn, whom
the book targets, how information is presented, and where you can learn
more.
viii The HTML Pocket Guide
What You Will Learn
The focus of this book is to help you learn about
n Elements and attributes in HTML 4, XHTML 1, and HTML5
n Differences between these HTML versions
n Current Web standards–based best practices regarding HTML usage
n What to use instead of deprecated attributes
Who This Book Is For
This book is suitable for developers and designers of all skill levels who
want to learn about HTML and for those who want a handy, informative
HTML reference at the ready. Those of you who have X/HTML down pat
will be interested in its detailed coverage of all the HTML5 elements.
How to Read This Book
This book is structured to allow you to read it either sequentially (espe-
cially Parts 2 and 3) or jump to a particular topic for quick access to
specific answers. The book has three parts:
n Part 1 covers an HTML5 overview, HTML fundamentals, and common
attributes and data types referred to by Parts 2 and 3.
n Part 2 provides in-depth coverage of all HTML elements and their attri-
butes except those unique to HTML5. It also explains differences for
some of these elements when used in HTML5. All of this information is
in a reference-style format that includes code examples and explana-
tions concerning how and when to use the elements and attributes.
n Part 3 has the same format, except it focuses on elements unique to
HTML5. In that sense, it’s like a book within the book, which is espe-
cially convenient if your main goal is to get up to speed on the new
elements in HTML5.