introduction ~ selectors ~ properties ~ advanced ~ real world CSS tables | compatibility | web design | validating

real world CSS

In the previous three sections of the guide we covered the entire cascading style sheets technology. We looked at selectors, properties and advanced aspects of CSS that involve special selectors and special properties. That was where the other editions of the guide have ended. We thought though for this latest edition it might be time to start including some of our ideas about how to really start making style sheets work under the heading of Real World CSS. The sections here are quite diverse. Some, like the section on tables, are very practical in nature, helping you pull together the different parts of the guide and make your style sheet do something that works. Others, such as the Web Design section, concern themselves more with general principles of flexible accessible web design using style sheets.

In this final section, available in the full version of our CSS guide, we turn to some issues in the real world. We

• look at the challenges styling tables with CSS presents
• develop strategies for maximizing forward and backwards compatibility with CSS
• think about design issues specific to the web, and how they differ from designing for the printed page
• cover validating CSS and HTML

next: tables and CSS