What you will learn from this book Responsive web design is the hottest topic in web design. Understand what it is and why it’s essential to master HTML5 is leaner, faster and more semantically rich. You’ll learn how to write HTML5 and understand all the key features CSS3 media queries allow different styles for different media, learn how to integrate them into a design Make web pages and the media within them ‘fluid’ - allowing them to flex when needed Ditch images and use CSS3 to create background gradients, text shadows, box shadows and more Use CSS3 3D transformations to flip elements in 3D space. Animate elements with CSS3 keyframes Create smooth CSS3 transitions between default and hover states with differing durations and timing functions Conquer forms – add validation and useful interface elements like date pickers and range sliders with HTML5 alone Tablets, smart phones and even televisions are being used increasingly to view the web. There’s never been a greater range of screen sizes and associated user experiences to consider. Web pages built to be responsive provide the best possible version of their content to match the viewing devices  of not just today’s devices but tomorrow’s too. Learn how to design websites according to the new “responsive design” methodology, allowing a website to display beautifully on every screen size. Follow along, building and enhancing a responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS3. The book provides a practical understanding of these new technologies and techniques that are set to be the future of front-end web development. Starting with a static Photoshop composite, create a website with HTML5 and CSS3 which is flexible depending on the viewer’s screen size. With HTML5, pages are leaner and more semantic. A fluid grid design and CSS3 media queries means designs can flex and adapt for any screen size. Beautiful backgrounds, box-shadows and animations will be added – all using the power, simplicity and flexibility of CSS3. Responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS3 provides the necessary knowledge to ensure your projects won’t just be built ‘right’ for today but also the future. Approach This book will lead you, step by step and with illustrative screenshots, through a real example Who this book is for Are you writing two websites – one for mobile and one for larger displays? Or perhaps you’ve heard of Responsive Design but are unsure how to bring HTML5, CSS3, or responsive design all together. If so, this book provides everything you need to take your web pages to the next level – before all your competitors do! About the Author Ben Frain has been a freelance front-end web designer/developer for over a decade working directly with clients and alongside design agencies worldwide. He also works as a technology journalist, contributing regularly to a number of diverse publications on the Mac platform, future technology, website design and technology systems. Before that, he worked as an underrated (and modest) TV actor, having graduated from Salford University with a degree in Media and Performance. He has written four equally underrated (his opinion) screenplays and still harbors the (fading) belief he might sell one. Outside of work he enjoys playing indoor football whilst his body (and wife) still allow it. Visit him online at http://www.benfrain.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/benfrain Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Getting Started with HTML5, CSS3, and Responsive Web Design Why smart phones are important (and old IE isn't) Are there times when a responsive design isn't the right choice? Defining responsive web design Why stop at responsive design? Examples of responsive web design Get your viewport testing tools here! Online sources of inspiration HTML5—why it's so good Saving time and code with HTML5 New, semantically meaningful HTML5 tag elements CSS3 enables responsive designs and more The bottom line—CSS3 won't break anything! How can CSS3 solve everyday design problems? Look Ma'—no images! What else has CSS3 got to offer? Can HTML5 and CSS3 work for us today? Responsive web designs are not magic bullets Educating our clients that websites shouldn't look the same in all browsers Summary Chapter 2: Media Queries: Sporting Differing Viewports You can use media queries today Why responsive designs need media queries? Media query syntax What can media queries test for? Using media queries to alter our design The best way to load media queries for responsive designs Our first responsive design Don't panic but our design is fixed-width Responsive designs—making images as economical as possible Content clipping in smaller viewports Stopping modern mobile browsers from auto-resizing the page Fixing the design for different viewport widths With responsive designs, content should always come first Media queries—only part of the solution We need a fluid layout Summary Chapter 3: Embracing Fluid Layouts Fixed layouts aren't future proof Why proportional layouts are essential for responsive designs Amending a design from fixed to proportional layout A formula to remember Setting a context for proportional elements It's always important to remember the context Using ems rather than pixels for typography Fluid images Making images scale with the viewport Specific rules for specific images Putting the brakes on fluid images The incredibly versatile max-width property Serving different images for different screen sizes Setting  Adaptive Images Put background images somewhere else Where fluid grids and media queries come together CSS Grid systems Rapidly building our site with a Grid system Summary Chapter 4: HTML5 for Responsive Designs What parts of HTML5 can we use today? Most sites can be written in HTML5 Polyfills, shims, and Modernizr How to write HTML5 pages Economies of using HTML5 A sensible approach to HTML5 mark All hail the mighty <a> tag Obsolete HTML features New semantic elements in HTML5 The <section> element The <nav> element The <article> element The <aside> element The <hgro> element The HTML5 outline algorithm The <header> element The <footer> element The <address> element Practical usage of HTML5's structural elements What about the main content of the site? HTML5 text-level semantics The <b> element The <em> element The <i> element Applying text-level semantics to our mark Adding accessibility to your site with WAI-ARIA ARIA's landmark roles Embedding media in HTML5 Adding video and audio the HTML5 way Providing alternate source files Fallback for older browsers Audio and video tags work almost identically Responsive video Offline Web applications Offline Web applications in a nut shell Making web pages work offline Understanding the manifest file Automatic loading of pages to the offline manifest About that version comment Viewing the site offline Troubleshooting Offline Web applications Summary Chapter 5: CSS3: Selectors, Typography, and Color Modes What CSS3 offers the frontend developer CSS3 sport in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 8 Using CSS3 to design and develop pages in the browser Anatomy of a CSS rule Vendor prefixes and how to use them Quick and useful CSS3 tricks CSS3 multiple columns for responsive designs Adding a gap and column divider Word wrapping New CSS3 selectors and how to use them CSS3 attribute selectors CSS3 substring matching attribute selectors A practical, real world example CSS3 structural pseudo-classes The :last-child selector The nth-child selectors Understanding what nth rules do The negation (:not) selector Amendments to pseudo-elements Is :first-line handy for responsive designs? Custom web typography The @font-face CSS rule Implementing web fonts with @font-face Help—my CSS3 @font-face headings look messy A note about custom @font-face typography and responsive designs New CSS3 color formats and alpha transparency RGB color HSL color Fallback color values for IE6, IE7, and IE8 Alpha channels Summary Chapter 6: Stunning Aesthetics with CSS3 Text shadows with CSS3 HEX, HSL, or RGB color allowed Pixels, em, or rem Preventing a text shadow Left and top shadows Creating an embossed text-shadow effect Multiple text-shadows Box shadows Inset shadow Multiple shadows Background gradients Linear background gradients Breakdown of linear gradient syntax Radial background gradients Breakdown of radial gradient syntax Repeating gradients Background gradient patterns Responsive considerations for CSS3 Bringing CSS3 properties together Multiple background images Background size Background position Background shorthand More CSS3 features Sizeable icons which are perfect for responsive designs Summary Chapter 7: CSS3 Transitions, Transformations, and Animations What CSS3 transitions are and how we can use them The properties of a transition The transition shorthand property Transition different properties over different periods of time Understanding timing functions Fun transitions for responsive web sites CSS3 2D transformations What can we transform? scale translate rotate skew matrix transform-origin property Dabbling in CSS3 3D transformations Breaking down the 3D effect 3D transformations not ready for prime time Animating with CSS3 Putting CSS3 transformations and animations together Summary Chapter 8: Conquer Forms with HTML5 and CSS3 HTML5 forms Understanding the component parts of HTML5 forms placeholder required autofocus autocomplete list (and the associated datalist element) HTML5 input types email number url tel search pattern color Date and time inputs date month week time datetime and datetime-local range How to polyfill non-sporting browsers Styling HTML5 forms with CSS3 Form-specific CSS3 pseudo class selectors Summary Chapter 9: Solving Cross-browser Responsive Challenges Progressive enhancement versus graceful degradation Reality Should you fix old versions of Internet Explorer? Statistics (again) Personal choice Modernizr—the frontend developer's Swiss army knife Fix styling issues with Modernizr Modernizr adds HTML5 element sport for old IE Add min/max media query capability for Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 Conditional loading with Modernizr Changing navigation links to a drop menu (conditionally) High resolution devices (the future) Summary Index