This 6th edition of our best-selling HTML and CSS book presents the skills that a web developer needs today. To do that, it uses the proven instructional approach that made the first five editions so popular. In addition, it updates and streamlines the previous edition so it works better than ever.
The Canvas course file will contain all the objectives, quizzes, exercises, case studies, and PowerPoint slides that you need to run an effective course. It only takes a few clicks to import it into the Canvas LMS. Then, you can customize it for your course. Learn more. We should complete this in December.
I really like your HTML book. I now use it for two of my classes. I think the way the book is laid out is beneficial to the student, with information on the left side and content examples on the right.”
To present the essential HTML and CSS skills in a manageable progression and at the right pace, this book is divided into 3 sections.
To get you started right, the eight chapters in this section are a crash course in using HTML and CSS to develop web pages at a professional level. By the end of this section, your students will be able to develop web pages using the same coding techniques used by today’s top professionals.
That means they’ll be using semantic HTML elements to define the structure of a page. They’ll be using the CSS box model and flexbox layout right from the beginning. And they’ll be using a professional subset of HTML and CSS that consists of the most-used HTML elements, CSS selectors, and CSS properties.
The last chapter in this section shows your students how to use media queries to implement a responsive web design. That way, their web pages will work on devices with screens of all sizes, from mobile devices to desktop computers. This is an essential skill for today’s web developers.
After section 1, the sections and chapters are independent modules. As a result, you can assign them in whatever sequence you prefer.
Section 2 expands on section 1 by presenting additional HTML and CSS skills that professional developers use every day. That includes:
Section 3 consists of two chapters that help you expand your students’ knowledge beyond HTML and CSS. That includes:
When we updated this edition, we focused on what a web developer needs to know today. As a result, we cut obsolete material, rearranged some topics, and streamlined the book so it’s more manageable for your students.
We cut chapter 18 (How to use JavaScript). If you want to include some coverage of JavaScript in your course, we recommend using one or more chapters from Murach’s Modern JavaScript.
Despite all the changes, the 6th edition still uses the same proven instructional approach of the previous editions. In short, it begins with a crash course that teaches the essential HTML and CSS skills that your students need to start developing web pages at a professional level. After that, it presents other skills as independent modules that your students can learn when they need them.
Like the 5th edition, the 6th edition has been printed in full color. This makes the pages more engaging and attractive, and we think it makes many of the skills easier to grasp too.
In addition, the 6th edition still shows how to use the popular Visual Studio Code (VS Code) text editor. This helps your students learn to develop web pages more quickly and with fewer coding errors.
Here are four features of this book that will to help you teach your students HTML and CSS more effectively.
In a modern website, HTML defines the structure and content for the pages, and CSS formats the content. In other words, they always work together. Because of that, this book shows how HTML and CSS work together as early as possible and continues to do so throughout the rest of the book. This makes sure that your students always see the relationship between HTML and CSS, which is critical to learning how to use them.
Chapter 8 shows how to use media queries to build responsive web pages that use a fluid layout with navigation menus and scalable images. As a result, by the end of chapter 8, your students should have all the skills that they need for building responsive websites at a professional level.
Chapter 1 introduces user accessibility and search engine optimization. After that, this book presents guidelines for accessibility and SEO whenever they are relevant. For instance, when chapter 3 presents the <a> element, it also presents the related accessibility and SEO guidelines.
This book presents dozens of examples that show how HTML and CSS are used in a variety of contexts. However, it also presents a realistic website and enhances this website from one chapter to the next. This lets your students see how HTML and CSS is used in the real world.
This book is currently used by colleges and universities around the world for a variety of course titles. In general, these course titles fall into two categories:
This book is ideal for a one- or two-term HTML and CSS course. The first section presents the most critical HTML and CSS skills at a professional level while emphasizing responsive web design. After that, you can teach the remaining chapters in a sequence that fits the requirements of your course.
Because of its modular design, this book also works for an introductory course that puts more emphasis on web design and less on HTML and CSS. In that case, you can teach section 1, select the remaining chapters that you want to include, and skip the other chapters.
To develop web pages with HTML and CSS, your students can use any text editor. However, we recommend using Visual Studio Code (VS Code) because it provides many features that can help your students develop web pages more quickly and with fewer errors. This editor is available for free and runs on Windows and macOS.
We recommend using the Chrome browser to do the primary testing for a web page. That’s because Chrome provides excellent developer tools that your students can use to debug their web pages. This web browser is available for free and runs on Windows and macOS.
If you teach a JavaScript course after your HTML and CSS course, we have two JavaScript books for you to consider. Both are ideal for students without previous programming experience who need detailed explanations, but they also work well for students who already know another language and are ready to move more quickly. Either way, when your students are done with your course, they’ll have the JavaScript skills that are in such demand today.
This book helps your students learn JavaScript more easily than ever by presenting the best practices of modern JavaScript. If you don’t need to teach jQuery, we recommend using this book.
This book integrates the teaching of JavaScript and jQuery, an influential JavaScript library that has been around since 2006 and is still used extensively in millions of websites. If your course needs to include coverage of jQuery, this book is an excellent choice.
“The HTML/CSS book was an instant hit. I asked a student to evaluate it for me, and now I cannot get it back!”
- James Gonzalez, Multimedia Studies Instructor, College of Marin
“Needed to learn how to make web pages. Took a class and this was the required textbook. Finished with the class, but I still use this book as reference material. There is so much here and it has helped me a great deal.”
- Posted at an online bookseller
“My students have really enjoyed the HTML book. Murach books are uniquely geared towards two-year colleges; we need books that cut to the chase and hit the ground running. Thanks for providing affordable and quality books.”
- René Bylander, Instructor, IT Web & Software Developer Program, Wisconsin
“Great Book, Relevant & Educational! A+: Used this book for my first semester in Web Design, and it was my go-to for any question I had in my class. This is a great supplement to any other course material, with hands-on labs and solutions to modern coding situations. Would Highly Recommend!”
- Posted at an online bookseller
“Murach's HTML and CSS is the only worthwhile book I have seen in this category.”
- Andrew McConnell, Emeritus Professor
“I think others should know the value of your HTML book. It has made a great impact on my teaching and my students’ learning.”
- Posted at an online bookseller
“Murach's HTML and CSS is still getting rave reviews from my students.”
- Al Cutting, Professor, Rhode Island
View the table of contents for this book in a PDF: Table of Contents (PDF)
Click on any chapter title to display or hide its content.
The components of a web app
The HTML for a web page
The CSS for a web page
A short history of the HTML and CSS standards
How web pages are processed
Responsive web design
Cross-browser compatibility
Web accessibility
Search engine optimization
The basic structure of an HTML document
How to code elements and tags
How to code attributes
How to code HTML comments
How to code style rules
How to code basic selectors
How to code CSS comments
How to work with folders
How to work with files
How to edit an HTML file
How to edit a CSS file
How to install an extension
How to find syntax errors
How to open an HTML file in a browser
How to test a web page
How to debug a web page
How to validate HTML
How to validate CSS
How to include metadata
How to set a title and a favicon
How to code headings and paragraphs
How to code the structural elements
When and how to use div elements
How to code inline elements
How to code character entities and special types of text
How to code URLs
How to code links
How to code lists
How to include images
The page displayed in a browser
The HTML
How to provide the styles for a web page
How to use the basic selectors
How to specify measurements
How to specify colors
How to set the font family and font size
How to style and format fonts
How to indent, align, and decorate text
How to float an image
How to code relational selectors
How to code combination selectors
How to code attribute selectors
How to code pseudo-class selectors
How to code pseudo-element selectors
How the cascade rules work
How to create and use custom properties
How to nest CSS
The page displayed in a browser
The HTML
The CSS
How the box model works
A web page that shows how the box model works
How to set widths and heights
How to set margins
How to set padding
How to work with box sizing
How to use a reset selector
A web page that uses sizing and spacing
How to set borders
How to add rounded corners and shadows
How to set background colors and images
How to set background gradients
A web page that uses borders and backgrounds
Flexbox layout concepts
How to create your first flexible box
How to create a 1-column layout
How to create a 2-column layout
How to create a 3-column layout
How to change the order of flex items
How to allocate space to flex items
A web page that uses a 2-column layout
How to control the viewport
How to use units of measure based on the viewport
How to size fonts relative to the viewport
How to scale images
A fluid web page
How to display a navigation menu
How to style the links in a navigation menu
How to wrap menu items
How to align menu items along the main axis
How to align menu items along the cross axis
A web page with a navigation menu
How to position an element
An example that uses positioning
How to create a submenu
Useful symbols for working with menus
A web page with a 2-tier navigation menu
The components of a responsive web design
How to test a responsive design
How to code media queries
How to determine the breakpoints for media queries
A responsive web page
How to create a menu button
A responsive navigation menu
A 2-tier responsive navigation menu
How to define a container
How to code a container query
A web page with a container query
How to code unordered lists
How to code ordered lists
How to code nested lists
How to code description lists
How to change the bullets for a list
How to change the numbering system for a list
How to change the alignment of list items
How to link to another page
How to format links
How to use a link to open a new browser tab
How to create and link to placeholders
How to link to a media file
How to create email and phone links
Types of images for the web
How to align an image vertically
How to add an image to a figure
How to change an image based on viewport size
How to use Scalable Vector Graphics
How to get images
When to use an image editor
How to work with Font Awesome icons
How to work with favicons
How to embed fonts in a web page
How to use fonts from Google and Adobe
How to use functions to specify colors
How to use relative colors
How to work with light and dark color schemes
An introduction to tables
How to define a table
How to add a header and footer
How to format a table
How to use structural pseudo-classes to format a table
How to add a table to a figure
How to merge cells in a column or row
How to make a table accessible
How to make a table responsive
How to define a form
How to format a form
How to use labels and text fields
How to use text areas
How to use radio buttons and check boxes
How to group controls
How to use drop-down lists
How to use list boxes
How to define buttons
How to format buttons
How to set the tab order and assign access keys
How to use the number, email, url, and tel controls
How to use the date and time controls
How to use the file upload control
The HTML attributes and CSS selectors
How to use regular expressions
The web page
The HTML for the form
The CSS for the form
Common media types for audio and video
How to convert from one media type to another
How to add audio
How to add video
How to provide alternate source files
An introduction to grid layout
How to create a grid
How to set the size of grid tracks
The properties for aligning grid items and tracks
A page layout that uses alignment
How to use numbered lines
How to use named lines
How to use template areas
How to use the 12-column grid
The web page
The HTML for the structural elements
The mobile-first CSS for small screens
The media queries for larger screens
The headline and gallery layout
The fixed sidebar layout
The advanced grid layout
How to code transitions
How to create an accordion using transitions
How to code 2D transforms
A gallery of images with 2D transforms
How to code simple animations
How to set the keyframes for a slide show
How to use filters
Ten filter functions applied to the same image
How to add shadows to text
How to work with user preferences
How to use functional pseudo-class selectors
How to work with logical properties
How specificity is calculated
How to use classes
How to use the :where() pseudo-class
How to use cascade layers
An introduction to usability
The current conventions for usability
Use mobile-first design
Use the home page to sell the site
Let users know where they are
Make the best use of web page space
Divide long pages into shorter chunks
Know the principles of graphic design
Write for the web
How to set up a GitHub account
How to install the GitHub Desktop app
How to create a GitHub repository
How to add files to a repository
How to set up a DigitalOcean account
How to deploy a website
How to test a deployed website
How to make changes to a deployed website
How to get a web host
How to get a domain name
How to get your website into search engines
How to set up, maintain, and improve a website
How to download the files for this book
How to install Visual Studio Code
How to install Chrome and other browsers
Coming in December
We want to make it easy for you to teach an effective course with our book. And we want students to feel that any assignment you give them isn’t busywork. To make that happen, we supply a complete set of instructor’s materials.
For a detailed description of all the materials, please see the Instructor’s Summary PDF when completed in December.
If you use the Canvas LMS, we also provide a Canvas course file that you can use to import most of these materials with just a few clicks.
We'll be posting answers to the frequently asked questions (FAQs) for this book here. So, if you have any questions, please send them to us by email. Thanks!
There are no book corrections that we know of at this time. But if you find any errors in this book, please send them to us by email, so we can post the corrections here. Thank you!
This is our site for college instructors. To buy Murach books, please visit our retail site.