10 essential resource sites for web designers

As you may have noticed, not least by typing something into Google and it gleefully revealing that there are 26 million results for your search, there are quite a few websites out there. Unless you’re some kind of immortal, you won’t have time to check out many of them, even in a relatively niche area such as web design. Therefore, we’ve racked our brains to come up with a list of 21 essential sites every web designer should bookmark, unless they’re some kind of idiot—and that’s not you, is it?

1. A List Apart

An online magazine that’s so entrenched in the consciousness of web designers that it’s probably illegal if you don’t read every new issue. With hundreds of incisive articles from the industry’s very best, A List Apart should be your first port of call for in-depth insight and analysis into code, content and design.

2. 24 Ways     

Describing itself as an “advent calendar for web geeks”, 24 ways has since 2005 provided two-dozen web-design articles every December. Topics are varied, but because the contributors are first-rate, even many of the earliest articles remain useful and relevant—24 ways isn’t just for Christmas, you know.

3. Smashing Magazine

Founded in 2006, Smashing Magazine fires web design and development techniques into your brain by way of news, opinion pieces and practical tutorials. It’s also quite fond of lists, making it a handy site for discovering additional resources.

4. siteInspire

5. UX Movement

With UX increasingly a big concern within web design, it pays to keep informed. UX Movement is a blog dedicated to working with UX, providing insight into wireframing and usability concerns relating to forms, hover components and other web-page elements.

6. Search Engine Land

Building a great website isn’t much use if no-one can find it. Search Engine Land provides news about search marketing and search engines, offering hints and tips at boosting your SEO. For securing your position on Google, also check out Google Webmaster Central.

7. W3C

Most web designers will never need to know all the ins and outs that govern web standards, but the W3C website remains an essential place to visit. Not only does it provide access to specifications (including explanations and examples), but it also offers tools such as mark-up and CSS validators.

8. HTML5 Boilerplate

Most projects begin with the same kinds of files, and designers often waste time recreating them from scratch. With HTML5 Boilerplate you can get a head-start with a robust and future-proof HTML/CSS/JavaScript template. HTML5 Reset is another project along similar lines.

9. Dive into HTML5

If you need to get to grips with HTML5, Mark Pilgrim’s book offers excellent commentary on a number of features from the specification. The book is online in its entirety under the CC-BY-3.0 License, but buy a hardcopy if you use the site regularly.

10. CSS3.info

Of late, browsers have become immersed in a battle for supremacy over support for advanced CSS. To that end, the standard is evolving remarkably quickly. CSS3.info enables you to keep track of developments, learn more about properties and modules, and test a browser against CSS selectors.

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