Rating: 
Summary: Good intro for beginners
Review: "Learning Web Design" by Jennifer Niederst is an excellent intro to HTML and web design. The book takes the reader gently through how the Internet works, how web pages are loaded, and how web pages should be designed before giving a lesson on HTML. Niederst then takes the reader through a sampling of topics such as graphics and frames, highlighting the do's and don'ts of web design.In my opinion, I recommend this book if you are: A complete newbie to the web but wants to make web pages the right way. A programmer who understands the basics of HTML but does not consider him or herself a designer. You will also need a dose of patience, and I also recommend you follow along her lessons with your computer with a basic text editor software like Notepad. I would also recommend checking out "Web Design in a Nutshell" by the same author for a slightly more advanced and in-depth treatment of web design and "HTML and XHTML: The Definitive Guide" for a complete treatment of how to write HTML. Lastly, Niederst doesn't cover JavaScript or CSS in this book: it is strictly an intro for beginners on the fundamentals of HTML and web design. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro for beginners
Review: "Learning Web Design" by Jennifer Niederst is an excellent intro to HTML and web design. The book takes the reader gently through how the Internet works, how web pages are loaded, and how web pages should be designed before giving a lesson on HTML. Niederst then takes the reader through a sampling of topics such as graphics and frames, highlighting the do's and don'ts of web design. In my opinion, I recommend this book if you are: A complete newbie to the web but wants to make web pages the right way. A programmer who understands the basics of HTML but does not consider him or herself a designer. You will also need a dose of patience, and I also recommend you follow along her lessons with your computer with a basic text editor software like Notepad. I would also recommend checking out "Web Design in a Nutshell" by the same author for a slightly more advanced and in-depth treatment of web design and "HTML and XHTML: The Definitive Guide" for a complete treatment of how to write HTML. Lastly, Niederst doesn't cover JavaScript or CSS in this book: it is strictly an intro for beginners on the fundamentals of HTML and web design. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: New Web Designer
Review: As a "newbie" to webdesign, I wanted a book that would help me to understand the basics and develop a complete, well-rounded knowledgee of web design. Jennifer's book is excellent. The examples and the pictures really facilitate learning. Also, at the end of the chapter are review questions and exercises, which further aid in the learning process. All-in-all this is an excellent book for anyone new to web design.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome for beginners
Review: Excellent writing style made it fun and easy to follow along and actually create a functional website. I made 4 websites by the time I finished the book!
Rating: 
Summary: will help me teach
Review: I bought this book because I may be teaching a course in web design in a high school this fall. I want to cover HTML, web graphics, CSS, and JavaScript. Niederst covers HTML and graphics in depth. With HTML, she teaches how to create a page, how to format text, how to insert graphics, how to create links, etc. The graphics section may be the strongest in the whole book. It is exactly what I was looking for as a resource to explain how graphics are edited for the Web. CSS and JavaScript get only passing attention, but that is probably to be expected. There are a few "modern" tricks that are missing from the book. There is no discussion of the .PNG standard for web graphics. There is no discussion of the "link title" tag, which can create a rollover effect with just an HTML tag. Niederst also spends some time on the basics of obtaining server space and putting files onto a server. I think that this is very important, because this can be the most confusing part about getting started in Web design, and other books generally omit it. I can give this book my strongest recommendation to other teachers of web design courses. I am sure that I will refer back to it constantly. For students, I'm afraid that it might be too broad, and for beginners my guess is that it would be too overwhelming. For example, on p.10-11 in discussing what software you need to buy, Niederst lists 3 web authoring tools, 2 text editors, and 5 graphics tools. Nowhere does she make it clear that you do not need all 10! As an experienced web designer, I know that it would be silly to work with Dreamweaver(tm) and Frontpage(tm) at the same time. But that may not be obvious to a beginner. Nor would it be obvious that if you choose an authoring tool you would not use a text editor. This breadth of information runs throughout the book. I would think that a beginner would be better off starting with a shorter book that teaches a single approach to page construction, rather than a book that tries to cover multiple approaches at once.
Rating:
Summary: This one got me on the web!
Review: I had bought other HTML books, including some that promised to be simple, but they merely confused me. I felt defeated. Then I saw a copy of this book, read a few pages, and immediately bought it. I have been delighted. First, it is very readable-clear, logical, and thoughtfully illustrated with useful examples. Second, it is organized in a way that truly helps neophytes. It begins by explaining some general points that page designer needs to know. Then it gets more specific, and then finally it begins explaining the mechanics of creating a page. The order in which topics are introduced allows the user to put up a simple site and then continue to improve on it. I found that satisfying, because I could get something up and running quickly, which was a thrill, and then I could improve on what I had done. The web links are very helpful. For instance,the chapter on color provides a link to color charts, so readers can see the colors they will be working with. This book has made me believe that I will eventually not only design web pages, but also web pages that load quickly, are easy to use, and that can be read on most browsers. I plan on buying another book by this author as soon as I finish this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Comprehensive Web Design Book
Review: I have been using both of Jennifer Nierdersts books (this one and Web Design in a Nutshell), for the past year in my beginner college level classes. Both these books are solidl, intelligently written, and packed with useful information. I highly resommend these books. As a matter of fact, I just looked it up now to get the ISBN because the college bookstore is getting ready to order more for the summer. So I figured it was about time I spoke up.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I wish I had found this book before I chose Designing Web Graphics.3 as a required book in my class. Designing Web Graphics.3 is too wordy and out of date. Learning Web Design is missing a few details but overall I think it is a great book to use for teaching intro to web design.
Rating:
Summary: Well written book - make sure you are in its target audience
Review: I, too, will likely be teaching a high school course in web design this fall, and felt that this book would help provide a framework for my curriculum. It certainly covers a wide range of topics, but it has a target audience in mind and you should determine whether or not you are in that audience before you purchase the book. First of all, do you know absolutely nothing about web design? This is definitely a book for beginners. I am by no means an expert, and I knew little HTML before reading this book, but I can say that I already knew most of the material. I know it's called "Learning Web Design," but in spite of that I was still a bit surprised. If you've had even minimal experience making web pages already, most of this will be review. Second, do you plan to rely almost entirely on programs like Dreamweaver or GoLive? Niederst's coverage of HTML assumes that you do. This is not a negative comment--for many people there is no need to learn a great deal of HTML--but she teaches you just enough so that you can operate WYSIWYG editors more efficiently. She does not mention which tags are deprecated, and doesn't really encourage the use of CSS (although CSS isn't taught in the book). I think those two things are fairly important if you plan to make a real study of HTML, if only to encourage good habits in the beginning. Thus, much will have to be "unlearned" with further HTML tutorials. However, your basic WYSIWYG user will probably never know the difference. If you don't meet those two qualifications, I would recommend you look elsewhere. Otherwise, this will be an excellent first book ... Niederst is a great author, and the book is easy and fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for beginner's
Review: Jennifer Niederst book "Learning Web Design" I found to be a great book explaining very well for beginners on how to build basic websites. I have been building sites for a year and studying and this book gave me great foundation for my future web designing. I look forward to reading her other book, which I bought with this one "Web Design in a nutshell".
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