For a skinny book, Dan Cederholm's "Bulletproof Web Design" picks a bully of a topic: "Improving flixibility and protecting against worst-case scecnarios with XHTML and CSS."

At first, I was totally sceptical on how such a small book could tackle such a topic successfully and comprehensively. I was intrigued enough to check it out from my local library.

In nine short, extremely readable, and to the point chapters, Dan not only gets the concepts across, but also provides code samples and excellent illustrations on these topics:

• Text (fonts and scaling)
• Navigation
• Expandability of rows
• Floating
• Box Design and Implementation
• Impacts of not having images/CSS
• Tables with CSS
• Fluid Layouts
• Comprehensive example

Each chapter follows a simple, yet effective pattern with illustrations and code examples:

• A premise, common challenge, topic
• A common way to solve the challenge/address the topic and why it may not be the best
• A better "bulletproof" way to achieve the same
• An explanation of why it's better / bulletproof
• A summary highlighting the key points of the chapter

I found this very cookie cutter way of writing this type of book extremely helpful, because with each chapter (just like with each episode of CSI which follows story recipes very closely) I knew exactly what to expect and didn't waste any time or energy trying to figure out the structure of the content; instead I was able to focus on what was being said and explained.

The illustrations were right on target with the  content and the examples were clear and precise. I especially liked that they were built "onion-skin style" right in front of me. Instead of presenting the final solution and then de-composing how we got there, Dan takes the approach of building the solution with the reader, layering solution components on top of each other step by step. That's a great way to teach in general. Good job, Dan!

With almost every chapter, I found myself "guilty as charged" for implementing some of the "lesser" solutions to the challenge outlined; especially the chapter on using tables for markup AND design. I bet almost everyone has done that as a shortcut to save time and then copy it again and again because it was easy. Dan, I promise to spend a little more time on separating markup from design when building a site that involves tabular data. I totally "get" why that's the right way to do things after reading your book.

While highlighting better ways to address markup/design challenges, Dan doesn't resort to finger pointing or loading guilt onto the "offenders". He very matter-of-factly tells why he thinks HIS solution is a better one. I really like that style. I for one am tired of articles and forums that bash one way of handling a situation over another with a "holier-than-thow" or "my-way-or-the-highway" attitude. Almost to the point of wanting to define a rating system that would allow my browser to flag or block sites that don't follow my "live and let live, while working to improve the world with reason" outlook.

The other point that I really liked about the book is the focus on accessibility: how to implement it and test for it. In the past, I doubted how many of the visitors to my sites would be impacted by how accessible they are. Recently, I've noticed that even non-disabled visitors of websites can benefit from an accessible site. Dan's book convincingly brings the point across that building and accessible website not only benefits a small segment of your visitor base, but also brings greater benefits as well. For example, I learned just the other day that people were calling my client's business over his competitors' because of how their store showed up on search engines and how the content of their site was displayed on mobile phones.  I now check ALL the sites we build on a mobile/smart phone because more people than you think will try to access your site that way.

One nit I have with the book is that I would have liked to be able to go somewhere and download or cut/paste the examples, just because I can never just read a book without taking notes anymore and writing down code rather than a link is just a lot more tedious. Like I said - it's a nit.

There are lots of references and links to other sites and authors that contributed to the solutions shown in Dan's book and all the ones I went to still work - after all these years. And that brings me to another point. While the book was published in 2006, it is still relevant in 2008 which is pretty amazing in this fast paced environment.

Thank you Dan, for a compact, to-the-point book that will make my websites easier to access, read, maintain and re-style in the future. I might actually have to buy this book's second edition (which my library didn't have) after I return the library copy. Just click the picture below to get it at Amazon.com