How do I hide text but still have my site accessible to all?

Designers often use images for elements such as headings or logos, but are then faced with a problem: how can they hide the underlying text without making it inaccessible?

The solution: simply position the text out of the viewport using the "text-indent" property:

#branding h1 {
    position: absolute;
    text-indent: -9999px;
}
        

Some suggest using "display: none" or "visibility: hidden"; but this also prevents the text from being read in screen readers.

The Rundle's Text-indent method is the most accessible method.

Where should I start with the whole web development thing?

So you've learned HTML and CSS and have been designing a few sites that are rockin', but now you want to know how to do things like login pages, administration sections, blog systems, etc.

The first thing you need to sort out is which server-side language you want to use: PHP or ASP (.NET).

I'll tell you right now that in the web world of today, there are more applications or CMS's (Content Management Systems) developed in PHP than in ASP, so you might want to start learning that language first.

The next thing you need is for your hosting provider to set you up with a MySQL database so you can store all your information in there.

So now you have all that. Where do you begin?

Start with simple things like writing a form and sending the information gathered to the database and then getting your information from your database onto a web page.

Those two things are what you will likely be using the most in every web applications you create.

Next step: find something you want to create, whether it's an administration section, a blog system or a shopping cart. Pick one and run with it.

In the PHP section of Webforumz we have great stickies that can help you get started with PHP and MySQL.

Good luck and most of all ... HAVE FUN!

Should I get a degree, or learn on my own?

This question comes up often when people are changing avenues in life and, it usually provokes the answer: "it depends".

It depends on what kind of a student you are.

If you are the type that needs someone to guide you in person, and to help you understand the material, then you are probably better off taking a web design course.

If, however, you are the type of student who learns easily from a book, then just learn this stuff on your own.

I went to a Computer Programming course in college. It offered one lonely class in HTML. I got hooked. I wanted more but the college didn't offer career choices; everything I know now, I basically learned on my own, reading through the endless blogs of well-known people in the web business like Jeffrey Zeldman, Dan Cederholm, and Roger Johanssen.

The bottom line is that some people just can't learn from scratch by reading books or online tutorials. They need someone in front of them, interacting with them; and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.