Datasheet

CHAPTER ONE THE DISTINCTION OF WEB DESIGN
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Emphasizing the essentials
If you’ve been coding with HTML for a while or have any experience with producing web-
sites, you should already know that certain HTML elements provided within the W3C
speci cations, such as strong and em, provide visual emphasis not just on the screen
within the browser window (with default styles that can be overwritten) but in context
within the content itself.
Tip
For those without coding experience, HTML stands for Hypertext Markup
Language. It is the primary language web designers use to structure content
within a page. Think of it as the candy wrapper that holds the goodness in pretty,
identifi able containers (if they are labeled correctly)!
Taking the principle of emphasis beyond the context and restraints of the HTML lan-
guage, providing a  ourish or distinctive marker helps users recognize a point of impor-
tance. You can emphasize a particular element in a number of ways, as long as it stands
out from its surroundings. Because emphasis remains at its strongest when it stands with
fewer competitors for attention, give only essential content this critical boost in visibility.
Used sparingly and appropriately, emphasis can draw attention quite quickly.
Some methods of providing distinction are quite direct and in-your-face; other methods
can be quite subtle. While subtle methods take longer to be recognized, it’s quite likely
that they are more reliable.  e proliferation of advertising that  ghts for people’s atten-
tion illustrates this theory, because people tend to develop a level of “immunity” to pat-
terns they recognize as negative (users automatically mentally block out blatant
advertisements). See Figure 1-7.
Figure -: An advertisement like this won’t hold your attention if you know it’s trying to sell something.
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