BOSTON — March 26–27, 2007

Secrets of the CSS Jedi

Eric Meyer

How much time do you spend either desperately fighting or blindly accepting browser defaults? More than you might think. Truly understanding both sides of this struggle is critical for anyone who wants to be a CSS Master. This will be an in-depth exploration of how CSS really works, and how this knowledge can make your work easier.

Good vs. Great Design

Cameron Moll

It’s easy to poke fun at bad design, but it’s far more challenging—and rewarding—to discern differences between good design and great design. This session will teach you practical design techniques for tipping the scales of greatness in your favor, using a blend of graphic design theory, human computing principles, and a communication-centric approach.

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Writing the User Interface

Jeffrey Zeldman

Drop-shadows don’t fill shopping carts. Aside from a few buttons and arrows, nearly all of the work of a user interface is performed by words. Yet most designers don’t question the text their clients dump on them, and most budgets don’t cover editing and writing. Learn how word choice can drastically improve design, branding, and usability—and how to edit web content effectively, even if you’re not a writer.

Web Standards Stole My Truck

Ethan Marcotte

CSS have you singing a country tune? Feel like XHTML or the DOM ran off with your dog, your girlfriend, or—even worse—your design? We’ll discuss what it really means to design with standards, and learn how to get the keys to your trailer back.

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Redesigning Your Way Out of a Paper Bag

Jason Santa Maria

Ninety percent of web design is redesign. Every redesign should serve a purpose beyond mere freshening. Rethinking an existing brand can be a designer’s most exciting (and most perilous) challenge. Happy Cog’s Jason Santa Maria should know, having recently redesigned beloved and respected brands including AIGA and A List Apart. Learn how color, typography, and visual metaphors can change the way people experience even the most familiar sites.

Building Better Browsers

Molly E. Holzschlag

The bane of the web developer’s existence, browsers can be our greatest love or our worst enemy. Learn about the history, development, evolution and promise of browsers for the web and beyond, and find out how you can better understand browsers and participate in the way the software we work hard to tame evolves.

Lunch

Partially Sponsored by Adobe

The Web Usability Diet

Steve Krug

Usability is a bit like eating sensibly: we all know it’s good for us (and our websites), but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to do it. In the last year, Steve Krug has found himself paring down his simple message even more, so everyone can find time for it. Come hear his latest thinking on what you really need to do about usability—and why it’s less than you think.

The State of CSS in an IE7 World

Eric Meyer

After five quiet (and increasingly frustrating) years, the 800-pound gorilla is awake once more. We know that Internet Explorer 7 fixed a lot of bugs and added new support, but with IE6 still hanging around like an annoying party crasher, has anything really changed? We’ll take a look at where we are and where we’re going in an IE7 world.

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Beyond Basic Access

Andrew Kirkpatrick (Adobe)

Designers already know about the basics of accessibility for people with disabilities. This session addresses the more complex issues that must be mastered when developing interactive experiences with XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and will show how to quickly determine what users with different abilities need to provide meaningful accessible experiences.

Selling Design

Jeffrey Zeldman

It takes talent, knowledge, and experience to design great websites. But what’s the use if your client (or boss) consistently kills your best work? Great design requires great clients, and they are made, not born. Learn to identify receptive clients and bosses and develop an inclusive, collaborative process that builds the level of trust needed to sell great work.

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Interface Design Juggling

Dan Cederholm

Keeping all the right pieces in play when designing for the web can be a balancing act. This session will focus on being an independent interface designer in a complex world of endless choices. Learn how streamlined process and smart approaches can make for compelling, adaptable designs with XHTML and CSS. You’ll soon be juggling microformats, typography and flexible design with ease.

Critiques

Eric Meyer, Jason Santa Maria, Jeffrey Zeldman and Guests

A rip-snortin’ romp through the design, code, usability, branding and content of sites created by some of the smartest people in the world—namely, the attendees of An Event Apart Boston.

Opening Night Party

Sponsored by (mt) Media Temple

Restaurant 33
33 Stanhope Street
Boston, MA 02116 (Map)
Open Bar | Munchies | Grooves

Free food! Free drinks! Network, network, network! Dance to the mellow grooves. Eat, drink, and make contacts.