# Technical books

> A reading list on web technology and standards, circa 2002: Zeldman, Meyer on CSS, Håkon Wium Lie, Joe Clark on accessibility, and databases.

- Page: https://www.elasticspace.com/2002/12/technical-books/
- Author: Timo Arnall (https://www.elasticspace.com/)
- Section: Notes (https://www.elasticspace.com/notes/)
- Published: 2002-12-14
- Updated: 2026-07-05
- Tags: Books, Interaction Design, Research, Technology
- Site map for agents: https://www.elasticspace.com/llms.txt

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This is one of a series of reading lists I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design, building out a personal canon from books I was buying, borrowing from libraries, or lending to students. The lists are grouped by topic. This one is the shortest, and the most time-stamped: the technical books I was reading when web standards, CSS and accessibility were still being argued over. Much of this has since become second nature or been superseded, but at the time these were the books shaping the craft.

Zeldman’s Designing with Web Standards is the generational text of that moment, the book that made the case for separating structure from presentation and won the argument. Eric Meyer on CSS and Håkon Wium Lie’s book on CSS1 are the practical and theoretical companions. Joe Clark’s Building Accessible Websites is the conscience of the shelf.

The Amazon links below are what I had at the time, most will be dead now, but the ISBNs will find you a copy.

### Designing with Web Standards

Jeffrey Zeldman.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712018/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712018/elasticspace-20)

### Taking Your Talent to the Web

Jeffrey Zeldman. A fantastic how-to book for designers looking to get involved in web publishing and design. Takes the reader through writing, usability, architecture and technical tips.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710732/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710732/elasticspace-20)

### Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design

Eric Meyer. One of the leading proponents and practitioners of css on the web explains his ideas and techniques.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/073571245X/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073571245X/elasticspace-20)

### Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation

Owen Briggs, Steve Champeon, Eric Costello, Matt Patterson
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151043/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151043/elasticspace-20)

### Cascading Style Sheets: Designing for the Web

Håkon Wium Lie. The inventor of CSS1 explains advanced w3c standard site design techniques.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201596253/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201596253/elasticspace-20)

### Database Design for Mere Mortals

Michael J. Hernandez. High level design guidelines for designing relational databases, covering categories, fields, relationships and the end-user.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201694719/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201694719/elasticspace-20)

### Building Accessible Websites

Joe Clark. Valuable work on the techniques for improving the accessibility of online media.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/073571150X/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073571150X/elasticspace-20) / [website](http://joeclark.org/book/)