Our aim with this page is to recommend some books that we have found very useful in developing our web design skills. As ever we will attempt to concentrate on the subjects of web accessibility and colour schemes, however some more general web design books will inevitably creep in.
Building Accessible Websites
by Joe Clark. Using a strategic approach to the issues in a journalistic style, this book will be a foundation for how people think about this issue going forward-the first book people would read on the topic, before delving into the minutiae of the moment.
Design Accessible Websites: 36 Keys to Creating Content for All Audiences and Platforms by Jeremy Sydik. With this book, you’ll learn basic principles and techniques for developing accessible HTML, audio, video, and multimedia content. In addition, you will understand how to apply the principles you learn in this book to new technologies when they emerge.
Designing with web standards by Jeffrey Zeldman: this is an excellent book introducing the concept of designing websites that adhere to web standards. It includes a chapter on web accessibility that gives an overview of the subject and suggestions of where to go to find out more.
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance by Michael R. Burks, Patrick H. Lauke, Jim Thatcher, Richard Rutter, Cynthia Waddell. This book gives you all you need to know about web accessibility, whether you are a web designer or developer who wants your sites to be accessible, or a business manager who wants to learn what impact the web accessibility laws have on your websites.
Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities by Mike Paciello. This definitive resource provides everything you need to understand the laws, the needs of the disabled, and the processes of site evaluation and implementation. Includes development tools and utilities, techniques for adjusting HTML tags, scripts and other code to improve accessibility.
Web Graphics for Non-Designers: this book is a very useful introduction to the ‘design’ side of web design. It includes chapters on typography, layout, file formats, graphic applications and, of particular relevance to this site, colour. As someone without a graphic design background I found the introduction to colour theory very informative.
