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Adobe Photoshop: a popular program for creating and modifying images for the web. With Photoshop, you can change the color, size, and scale of graphics among other things.
alt text: Text that will display instead of an image when the browser is unable to display images. Place within an image tag as an accessibility feature for screen readers.
anchors: the same as hyperlinks--the underlined words or phrases you click on in World Wide Web documents to jump to another part of the screen or page.
anti-virus software: a class of program that searches your hard drive and floppy disks for any known or potential viruses. The market for this kind of program has expanded because of Internet growth and the increasing use of the Internet by businesses concerned about protecting their computer assets.
ASCII: bland, unformatted text files are best saved in ASCII (pronounced "askee") format, a standard developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to define how computers write and read characters. The ASCII set of 128 characters includes letters, numbers, punctuation, and control codes.
attribute: a characteristic, or field.
bitmap: refers to a collection of dots (pixels) that makes an image.
boolean: a way of constructing database queries. The most common Boolean operators are AND (to look for all terms), OR (to look for at least one of the terms), and NOT (to exclude a term).
browser: an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web. Examples include: Netscape, Internet Explorer, Mosaic (the browser on which Netscape's browser was based), Lynx, and Opera.
cache: a place to temporarily store information. A Web browser cache stores the pages, graphics, sounds, and URLs of online places you visit on your hard drive so that everything doesn't have to be downloaded again. This process saves time. Depending on your browser, you can usually vary the size of your cache.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): created in 1997 with the introduction of the HTML 4.0 Standard. Style sheets let an HTML author create an overall consistent design and layout for Web pages. There are three parts to CSS: the styles, their placement, and the fact they can cascade.
cell padding: this attribute controls the amount of space between the edge of a cell and its contents. The default is one pixel.
cellspacing: cellspacing attribute sets the amount of space between the cells. Most browsers normally put two pixels of space between cells. If you leave out the cellspacing attribute, you will get a thin gap between cells.
client/server: describes the relationship between two computer programs in which one program, the client, makes a service request from another program, the server, which fulfills the request. Although the client/server idea can be used by programs within a single computer, it is a more important idea in a network. In a network, the client/server model provides a convenient way to interconnect programs that are distributed efficiently across different locations.
compression: the reduction in size of data in order to save space or transmission time. Since graphic image file formats are usually very large files, they are usually designed to compress information as much as possible.
connection speed: measured by the number of units, or bits, of information transferred in a second. Bits per second is abbreviated bps; a thousand bits per second is abbreviated Kbps; and a million bits per second is abbreviated MBps. For example, a 14.4k modem with a connection speed of 14.4 Kbps is much slower than a cable modem with a connection speed of 1 MBps.
cookie: information downloaded to the hard drive by a site so that the site "remembers" information about the user when he or she again accesses the site. A user can configure the computer to refuse cookies, but doing so may cause some sites to be inaccessible.
desktop: a computer display area that represents the kinds of objects one might find on a real desktop, such as documents, a phonebook, reference sources, writing tools, and project folders.
domain name: found to the right of the @ sign in an email address. Domain names come with different extensions based on whether the domain belongs. [a commercial enterprise (.com), an educational establishment (.edu), a government body (.gov), the military (.mil), a network (.net), or a nonprofit organization (.org)]
download: to transfer a file from another computer and store it in your machine's own memory.
Dreamweaver: an HTML editor available from Macromedia used to create web pages.
Flash: an authoring software developed by Macromedia used to create graphics-based animation programs with full-screen navigation interfaces, graphic illustrations, and simple interactivity.
frames: divide the main browser's display window into independent window frames. Each frame can simultaneously display a different document. The display window may be divided into columns and rows of individual frames separated by scrollbars.
FTP (file transfer protocol): a protocol for exchange of files between computers on the Internet. Used to download files or upload web pages to a server.
gif (graphics interchange format): pronounced 'jiff' or 'giff.' Includes data compression and is suited for simple graphics where the colors are limited. The images may be animated or transparent. Generally not suited for photographs, however.
gui: pronounced "GOO-ee." A graphical user interface to a computer.
hotspot: an area of an image which acts as a hyperlink to another location.
HTML (hypertext markup language): the authoring language used to create Web documents. It defines the structure of a Web document by using tags and attributes. A good quick tutorial and reference can be found at Ian Graham's "Introduction to HTML."
(http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/tables.htm)
image map: a graphic image with specific areas identified so that when clicking each area (hotspot), a hyperlink is activated.
Internet: consists of millions of networks and computers across the world that allow millions of people to share information.
intranet: a play on the word Internet, an intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web. An intranet enables a company to share its resources with its employees without confidential information being made available to everyone with Internet access.
Java: a programming language expressly designed for use in the distributed environment of the Internet. It is similar to the "look" of C++ language but is simpler to use.
javascript: an open scripting language that enables Web authors to design interactive sites. Can interact with HTML source code and is supported by most browsers.
jpeg (joint photographic experts group): pronounced 'jay-peg.' A compression technique for color images that can reduce images up to 5% of their original size.
kilobyte: a measure of computer memory or storage; a kilobyte is a thousand bytes.
meta tag: information that describes the content of a web page. The information does not appear on the web page, but is placed in the HEAD element of the page.
Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE): a graphical Web browser that is provided with the Microsoft Windows operating systems. The MSIE browser competes closely with an earlier browser, Netscape Navigator.
mouseover: causes a previously invisible graphic image or other element to suddenly appear when the user rolls the mouse over a particular page element. Also called rollover.
Netscape Navigator: one of the two most popular Web browser and also the name of a company, Netscape Communications. Most Internet users use either Netscape's browser or Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.
Notepad: a basic type of word processor that comes with a Windows PC. Notepad also may be used to create HTML pages. To open, click Start > Programs > Accessories. See also WordPad and SimpleText.
operating system: sometimes abbreviated as "OS", the program that manages all the other programs in a computer. UNIX, Windows 2000, DEC's VMS, IBM's OS/2, AIX, and OS/390 are all examples of operating systems.
PDF (Portable Document Format): captures formatting information making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the monitor as they were intended. To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
pixel: the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display or in a computer image. If you reset from 800 by 600 pixels per horizontal and 640 by 480 per vertical line, fewer dots per inch will appear on the screen and the image will be less sharp.
plug-in: a program that can easily be installed and used as part of your Web browser. RealNetworks' streaming video player and Adobe Acrobat are two popular plug-ins.
PowerPoint: presentation software that allows you to create slides, handouts, notes, and outlines.
Quicktime: a technology which allows for the production of video and multimedia. Viewable with the Quicktime player. Download Quicktime.
resolution: the number of pixels (individual points of color) contained on a display monitor, expressed in terms of the number of pixels on the horizontal axis and the number on the vertical axis. The sharpness of the image depends on the resolution and the size of the monitor.
rollover: see mouseover
SGML(Standard Generalized Markup Language): a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document. SGML was developed and standardized by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in 1986. SGML itself does not specify any particular formatting; rather, it specifies the rules for tagging elements. These tags can then be interpreted to format elements in different ways. See also XML.
SimpleText: Simple Text is a very basic word processor that comes packaged with the Macintosh system. Keep in mind that it is a very simple word processor, but it allows you to see, write, and edit HTML code. See also WordPad.
style sheet: a file that defines the layout, or template, of a page. They are useful because you can use the same style sheet for many documents. See also cascading style sheet.
tables: used for the display of tabular data, and they also serve a role in document layout. A table is a collection of numbers and words arranged in rows and columns of cells. The table tag is <table> and </table>.
tag: a command that specifies the format of the document.
template: a blank form in which no data has been entered that shows which fields exist, their locations, and their length. Also referred to as a style sheet In some applications.
UNIX: the first open or standard operating system that originated at Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system.
URL(Uniform Resource Locator): a web page's address. Consists of a protocol or file indicator (http://, mailto:, gopher://), a domain name (www.utexas.edu), and a file name plus htm or html (resume.htm).
vector graphic: digital images created by placing lines and shapes in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. Some animation images are created as vector files.
virus: a piece of programming code usually disguised as something else that causes some unexpected and, for the victim, usually undesirable event and which is often designed so that it is automatically spread to other computer users. Viruses can be transmitted by sending them as attachments to an e-mail note, by downloading infected programming from other sites, or be present on a diskette or CD. The best protection against a virus is to know the origin of each program or file you load into your computer or open from your e-mail program.
WordPad: a very simple word processor for PCs. WordPad is best for creating simple and efficient documents without fancy formatting or features. See also SimpleText.
WWW (World Wide Web): a system of Internet servers that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.
WYSIWYG: pronounced "wiz'-ee-wig." WYSIWYG is a catchphrase for "what you see is what you get."
XML(Extensible Markup Language): a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. See also SGML.