Lush ’n lovely sites (alazanto, blather, chokespeak, Design Dojo, etc.) have been added to our Externals department, which has been reorganized to better fit the way readers use it.
New from the creators of Identifont, Fontifier “turns a scanned sample of your handwriting into a computer font that you can use in your word processor or graphics program, just like regular fonts such as Helvetica.” The resulting TrueType fonts can be used in Windows or Mac OS X (but not Mac OS 9 or earlier). Fontifier does its work online and, at least for now, the service is absolutely free.
How to actually use the program may not be immediately obvious when you arrive at the site. Hint: the five steps listed on the front page are clickable.
Web Design Resources, produced by Laura Carlson and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota Duluth, is a mega-reference containing over 3,000 links to information and articles about web design, with an emphasis on web standards and accessibility. The site practices what it preaches: it’s marked up in XHTML 1.0 Strict; meets WGAG Triple A (AAA) plus Section 508 access guidelines; and uses CSS for layout. A listserv and an RSS feed help you keep track of site updates. Bookmark it.
Launched today, Logan DeAngelis’s handsome PV Comics site is the second public project to use Stuart Robertson’s CSS Image Map technique (ALA Issue 166). You can switch between low- and high-bandwidth versions using a style switch toggle Stuart built (ALA Issue 126). The site offers free comics by talented young artists; additional comics are available by subscription.