Writing for the Web ― Composing, Coding, and Constructing Web Sites

Writing for the Web unites theory, technology, and practice to explore writing and hypertext for website creation. It integrates such key topics as XHTML/CSS coding, writing (prose) for the Web, the rhetorical needs of the audience, theories of hypertext, usability and architecture, and the basics of web site design and technology. Presenting information in digestible parts, this text enables students to write and construct realistic and manageable Web sites with a strong theoretical understanding of how online texts communicate to audiences.

Key features of the book include:

• Screenshots of contemporary Web sites that will allow students to understand how writing for and linking to other layers of a Web site should work.
• Flow charts that describe how Web site architecture and navigation works.
• Parsing exercises in which students break down information into subsets to demonstrate how Web site architecture can be usable and scalable.
• Detailed step-by-step descriptions of how to use basic technologies such as file transfer protocols (FTP).
• Hands-on projects for students to engage in that allow them to connect the various components in the text.
• A companion website with downloadable code and additional pedagogical features

Writing for the Web prepares students to work in professional roles, as it facilitates understanding of architecture and arrangement of written content of an organization’s texts.

J.D. Applen is an associate professor of English at the University of Central Florida. He is interested in writing and rhetoric, technical communication, the literature of science and technology, and the rhetoric of hypertext, digital archives, science, and the environment.