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WEB DESIGN
IN A NUTSHELL


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WEB DESIGN
IN A NUTSHELL
Third Edition

Jennifer Niederst Robbins

Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Kưln • Paris • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo


About the Author
Jennifer Niederst Robbins was one of the first web designers. As the designer of

O’Reilly’s Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial web site, she
has been designing for the Web since mid-1993. Soon thereafter, she became
Creative Director of Songline Studios (a subsidiary of O’Reilly) and went on to
form her own design and consulting company, Littlechair, Inc., in 1996. In addition to this Nutshell book, Jennifer writes and maintains Learning Web Design
and (X)HTML Pocket Reference, both published by O’Reilly Media. She has
taught courses on web design at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA,
and at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. She has been a regular on
the speaker circuit, presenting at South by Southwest Interactive, AIGA events,
Seybold Seminars, and the GRAFILL conference in Norway. Jennifer combines
her passions for cooking, indie rock music, and making stuff in her project, The
Jenville Show (a.k.a. “Cooking with Rockstars”) available at www.thejenvilleshow.com. Her latest production is a son named Arlo, who doesn’t leave her much
time for all of the above. You can visit Jennifer online at littlechair.com and
jenville.com.

Colophon
The animal on the cover of Web Design in a Nutshell is a least weasel (Mustela
nivalis). There are 67 species of weasel, including the mink, ermine, ferret, otter,
and skunk. Weasels, which are characterized by long, slender bodies and short
legs, are found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia, and in a vast
variety of habitats.
The least weasel is the smallest of the 67 species of weasel. Weighing in at approximately two ounces and measuring less than 10 inches long, the least weasel is the
smallest carnivore on Earth. It is found throughout the world in northern
climates. In warm weather this weasel’s coat is brown, with a white underside. In
winter it turns completely white. Thanks to its camouflage abilities and its speed
and agility, the least weasel is rarely caught.
The diet of the least weasel is made up primarily of voles and mice, which,
because of the weasels’ high metabolism, they hunt constantly. One family of
these little weasels can consume thousands of rodents each year, making them
important in controlling pest populations. Because it is so small, the least weasel
can follow mice into their burrows and eat them there. Like other weasels, they

will occasionally then make their victim’s home their own, lining it with the fur of
the former resident when preparing to nest. Least weasels can produce two litters
a year, with three to five young per litter.
The cover image is an original illustration by Lorrie LeJeune. The cover font is
Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe
Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont’s TheSans Mono Condensed.