Notes

Introducing Alkaline

Alkaline is a free application for the Mac that allows you to test your web site in a variety of Windows based browsers. Litmus’s lift pitch summarises its potential:

Alkaline tests your web site designs across 17 different Windows browsers right from your Mac desktop in seconds. No need for virtual machines, Windows licenses, or any messing around with Windows Update.

Alkaline works with the browser-based Litmus service which allows you to test your web sites in Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 for free, and with another 15 browsers, all available through a number of affordable, paid for options.

Watch the Litmus screencast for the lowdown on how Alkaline works. The screencast’s point - that testing across a range of browsers should be an iterative process, is a good one - and Alkaline makes this often tedious process very easy.

As with any screenshot service, the main drawback is that you can’t test how page interaction works, only check how your pages are rendered. That said, Alkaline looks like a useful addition to your web design toolbox. If, that is, you’re lucky enough to be working on a Mac.

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The Periodical

The most recent entries in the Periodical and Reviews sections:

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HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions

Learn how to build hand-crafted web pages using well-structured XHTML and lean and efficient CSS. By embracing a web standards approach, HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions enables you to create web sites that not only look great in all modern browsers, but are also accessible to a wide variety of audiences across a range of platforms - from those browsing on everyday computers, to those accessing the web on the latest, emerging mobile devices.

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The Authors

In addition to their role as lecturers in interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where they have been active in promoting a web standards-based curriculum, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson are practicing designers and digital artists. Their work has featured in a variety of design books and magazines alongside numerous internationally respected designers and they are regular speakers at design conferences and workshops worldwide.

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