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Ryerson publishes Web Design Primer open-source textbook

Web Design Primer is a new open-source eBook published by the Ryerson University Library by authors Richard Adams, Associate Professor in the School of Graphic Communications Management, and Ahmed Sagarwala, Manager of Industry Relations in the Digital Media Zone (DMZ). The book explains the basics of the HTML and CSS codes used to create web pages, and related technologies including JavaScript, jQuery, audio, video and animation.

Designed to accompany a one-semester course on web design, the book can be read online or downloaded in ePub and PDF versions from https://pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca/webdesign. Printed versions can also be ordered from the site. The eBook has been published under a Creative Commons “Share and Share Alike with Attribution” copyright license, enabling other instructors to download, edit and use the book for their classes, royalty-free, the only requirement being to credit the original authors. The eBook was written on the Library’s Pressbooks publishing platform. It can be output in several formats, including online, .epub (tablets), .mobi (Amazon Kindle), .pdf, and print.

The Library explains students typically like open-source eBooks because they are free, cover material only relevant to the class, and easy to access online without going to a bookstore or library stacks.