Why HTML?

I think this question is the "META" issue for any serious online course about HTML. So many web editing tools are on the market, many of them free, that it seems quaint to learn html and code pages the hard way. Many students will only take this course because it is required for a certificate. However, it is important for students to understand the reason clean and elegant HTML code is worthwhile. This not only gives them a basis to evaluate editing tools (to see what garbage some tools produce), but prepares them for the next evolution of html to xml. Moreover, with millions of people linking to the web, it is vital that web designers have a sense of responsibility for the medium and seriously consider issues such as accessibility and universality.

History of the Web at Webmonkey is an excellent introduction and explanation of the struggle for a universal language against the efforts by browser corporations to make proprietary code to capture a market.

W3C has a history of the web and archives that tell how HTML developed. This may be more useful for the student who has some understanding and is willing to accept a nonlinear listing of interesting topics. For an introduction, however, this history and process is described better in Dave Raggert's first chapter of the book on HTML 4. However, the page about W3C plans for where HTML code is going in the next few years would give students a sense of why it is important to understand the basics and not rely on wysiwyg editors.

Webmonkey's class or essay about making the web available to the disabled is very good and shows why web designers need to be aware of HTML, especially the refinements in version 4 meant to make the web accessible.