A

anti-aliasing - The process of eliminating jagged edges of a diagonal line or curve caused by low-resolution image production.

applet - A small niche application or utility that performs just one useful task and is designed for use within larger programs.

artifacts - The noticeable distortions present in an image produced by a digital camera or graphic software. Usually caused when image is compressed to a smaller file size.

B

browser - Computer program to view and interact with Internet Web pages.

C

CGI - (Common Gateway Interface) Scripting - The standard for passing information between a server and an application as part of the World Wide Webs' HTTP protocol. CGI links web site forms with a background database,

D

DHTML (Dynamic HTML) - The fusion of XHTML, the DOM, Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript to create a dynamic and interactive Web document.

dithering - A graphics technique that uses a mixture of colored or shaded dots to create a new color.

E

emoticon — Electronic mail "smileys" created through colons, semicolons, and other symbols. :)   ;)   :-)   ;-)   :(   ;-(     You must look at them sideways to get the meaning.

F

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) A standard way to transfer files between computers. It is frequently used as a way of transferring many types of files over the Internet.

Flash - Program used to create movement and interactivity with the viewer of a web site. Requires the viewer has A Flash plug in installed on their computer.

H

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - The language used to write Web pages.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - A set of standards that let users of the Web exchange information found in Web pages.

hypertext - Computer based information retrieval method. On Web pages, hypertext is any text that is "clickable".

I

ISP (Internet Service Provider) - A company which provides access to the internet.

J

Java - A programming language designed to writhe programs that users can safely download from the Internet to their computers and immediately run without fear of viruses. Allows functions like animation, calculators, and other small applications. (Created by Sun Microsystems)

JavaScript - A script language Developed by Netscape which allows its browser to create interactive web sites. (Not to be confused with Java which is a full-fledged programming language)

L

lossy compression - A data compression method that sacrifices some information to achieve greater compression. Files will lose some quality but remain understandable. The goal is to decrease file size to increase the speed with which people can view a site.

M

markup - The characters and codes that change a text document into an XML or other Markup Language document. This includes the < and > characters as well as the elements and attributes of a document.

meta tags - Meta tags are a lot of things, but basically they contain information about the web page that will not be directly displayed to the person reading the page. They are mostly used to give search engines a better sense of what the site is about and to interact with the Web server. Some Meta tags are keywords, descriptions, refresh, and author.

N
nesting - Placing one element inside another. When two tags are opened, they must be closed in the reverse order.

non-breaking space - A non-breaking space is a white-space character that HTML will not condense. It is usually used to hold open table cells and add spacing between words.

S

script - A sequence of commands the computer executes at the touch of a button or a short series of buttons.

T
tag - A code or symbol that provides formatting instructions.

text editor - an editor where you primarily work with HTML or XML tags and the actual Web Design code

U
URL (Universal Resource Locator) - The address to any Internet site that is part of the WWW such as www.itsaboutimage.com

V
vector based graphics - Graphics make up of elements such as lines, arcs, and other shapes and created using a set of mathematical instructions. Formed by lines rather than dots (bit-mapped graphics). Scaleable to larger and smaller sizes without losing detail. Often used in creating Flash animations.

W

W3C - W3C is an acronym standing for the World Wide Web Consortium. This is the group that determines the standards for the technology behind the Web.

web crawler - A class of computer programs designed to ceaselessly search the Web, looking for specific content or simply following links to see where they go.

web host - A company which hosts your web site. Your web site resides on their server connected to the world wide web. Many ISP's also provide this as an additional service.

web master - The individual responsible for managing a specific Web site.

web page - A Web page is a document written in HTML and meant to be viewed in a Web browser on the Internet or World Wide Web such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Opera.

web sites - Individual Web document collections named by home pages or other unique URLs.

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get    -    Pronunciation: why-see-wig • (acronym)

WYSIWYG editor - an editor where you primarily work with the layout and design of the page such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe Go Live.