If you are curious about why this web site exists, please read on.
My purpose with this site is to build a show and tell that illustrates standards based design and implementation solutions. I am striving to show you and, at the same time, tell you about a Web publishing system of maximum impact for the widest possible audience.
Webs are Publishing Systems
A Web site is as much a "publishing" system as those that produce books, newspapers, flyers and brochures. Electronic and print publishing systems are merging - interacting with each other in very dynamic, disruptive and disconcerting ways.
To me, traditional publishing conjures up visions of very systematic, disciplined and time driven processes. Industrial processes if you will. I believe that these industrial strength ideas can be usefully applied to Web site design and operation. But that is a DocInSite story that I'll tell elsewhere.
My point in this article is simply that process and technology are joined inextricably in any publishing endeavour.
Many Web Technologies
There are many, many software products available for web design, writing and publishing; there are many, many protocols and standards, many ways of connecting the dots. Keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff in this turbulent field is a lot of work. Deciding when to use what technology and in which situation is the key challenge.
Lab LynnParkPlace
To meet the challenge, I've created LynnParkPlace as my laboratory, my workshop. These pages are a living demonstration - to me and ultimately to you - of the appropriate mix of standards and tools.
Some Tools
LynnParkPlace is actually a collection of web sites. It's convenient to have the overall site divided into sub sites because I can use different software tools for each. There is also great truth in the notion of "divide and conquer."
Here's a short tool list for LynnParkPlace: Macromedia Homesite, PHP scripting, Adobe Photoshop, Radio Userland.
Stand on Standards
The central design goal for this Web site is maximum accessibility. The Guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) underlie every decision I make on this site.
Closely related, as an Accessibility enabler, are Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). CSS are the entities that give each page its visual, aural or printed personality. They also provide the much needed separation of verbal structure and meaning from visual or printed presentation.
There will be a continuous stream of information appearing in these pages on the process, tools and standards themes. Stay tuned and you'll be alerted when new content becomes available. In the mean time, welcome to LynnParkPlace. Enjoy your browse and contact me with your comments and suggestions.