Its not all about content - you need a sense of achievement?

[garypigott]

CSS & HTML Web Design - excellent content, and lots of it, however... it takes a long time to read (with very little visual stimulation), there is so much on each page that the progress through the book seems to take ages.

It's all about perception and motivation - I would ask does the slowness of getting through content act as a demotivating factor, giving the user the perception that they aren't making any progress; I suppose I can compare it to the need to give users a progress bar on a download site, or an animated "please wait..." icon which conveys the message that something is happening.

Now how would this then relate to website content - particularly large content based sites -> does this imply the need to give users progression "pats on the back" or use of easily bookmarkable sections etc.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Esam]

I think you have raised some really valid points. I hated the book for the same reasons you have raised and I actually gave up on it and used head first. I have now returned to the book because I now realise the value of the content. In regards to relating it to webdesign, spot on, thats why we need to use chunking, headings, short paragraphs, colours and images to compliment the text. Also give the option for the users to read more if they wish but leave the content digestible for the rest. It would benefit users and make it web 2.0 to compliment it with quizzes, forum , etc.