Observe the role of HTML on the Web

This exercise shows you how HTML coding is the basis of the way your Internet browser displays web pages.

1. Use your Internet browser to retrieve a Web page. Observe aspects of its appearance, such as the main headings and the test. Then examine the HTML the Web site sent to your computer so that your browser could produce the page you see. You can find the HTML by selecting "Source" or "HTML source" on the browser's View menu. What does the browser seem to do with the HTML? (In other words, what is the relationship between the HTML you see and the Web page you see?)

2. Observe how you can save a word processing document in HTML.
   1. Open any fairly short word processing document you may have and save the first three or four paragraphs under a different name so that you will not mess up the original.
   2. Open the new document and insert some simple formatting, such as bold, underline, several different fonts, and so on. Save the document as a word processing document with a name such as Word version of HTML demo.
   3. Save this new document as an HTML document using "Save as HTML" under the File menu. Give this document a new name, such as HTML version of HTML demo. (The "Save as HTML" command is available in Word 97, but may not be available in earlier versions.)
   4. Use the "Source" or "HTML source" command in the View menu to see the HTML that creates the appearance you see when you look at the as HTML version of HTML demo.
   5. Compare the HTML with the document you see when you select normal under the view menu. Identify the HTML that creates formatting. .
   6. Explain why you do or do not believe it should be necessary for you to know HTML to produce a simple web page.

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