Molly Miriam Esther Holzschlag (January 25, 1963 – September 5, 2023) was an American author, lecturer and advocate of the Open Web. She wrote or co-authored 35 books on web design and open standards, including The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web (co-authored with Dave Shea). She was nicknamed the "Fairy Godmother of the Web".
Holzschlag conceived and led the first five years of Open Web Camp, a free event in Silicon Valley from 2009 to 2013. Her work focused on Open Web technologies, web design, and accessibility. She was the 2004–2006 group lead for the Web Standards Project (WaSP), a coalition that campaigned browser makers such as Microsoft, Opera, and Netscape to support modern web standards. Her obituary in the Tucson Sentinel reported that "more than once, she challenged Bill Gates face-to-face to fix problems with Internet Explorer".
She participated as a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) invited expert on the CSS Working Group, chaired the CSS Accessibility Community Group, and was an invited expert on the HTML and GEO working groups.
In 2011, Holzschlag worked for Knowbility, teaching classes on Open Web technologies such as HTML5 and ARIA, with a strong emphasis on using inclusive design to overcome accessibility barriers. She also taught webmaster courses for the University of Arizona, University of Georgia, University of Phoenix, New School University, and Pima Community College.
Holzschlag wrote or co-authored 35 books on web design and open standards, including The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web (co-authored with Dave Shea). She also reported on music for the Tucson Weekly in the 1990s.
Holzschlag was born on January 25, 1963, in Brooklyn. She was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 2014. She had spoken about the problems with health care funding and raised over $70,000 through GoFundMe in 2013 to fund her chemotherapy. Holzschlag was found dead at home in Tucson, Arizona, on September 5, 2023, at age 60.
2016, O'Reilly Web Platform Award
2015, Net Award for Outstanding contribution
1998, named one of the Webgrrls San Francisco chapter's Top 25 Women on the Web
Holzschlag, Molly (April 22, 2005). Spring into HTML and CSS. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 9780321604712.
Holzschlag, Molly; Shea, David (February 27, 2005). The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web. New Riders. ISBN 0321303474.
Holzschlag, Molly E. (July 9, 2004). 250 HTML and Web Design Secrets. Wiley. ISBN 0764568450.
Holzschlag, Molly; Glendinning, Porter (May 28, 2004). Sams Teach Yourself Movable Type in 24 Hours. ISBN 067232590X.
Holzschlag, Molly (April 28, 2004). Design Your Own E-Shop: Creating & Promoting Successful Small Business Sites (Dyo). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 2884790217.
Holzschlag, Molly E. (April 2003). Color for Websites: Digital Media Design (Graphic Design). ISBN 2880467411.
Holzschlag, Molly E. (March 11, 2003). Cascading Style Sheets: The Designer's Edge. Wiley. ISBN 0782141846.
Holzschlag, Molly E.; Kettell, Jennifer Ackerman (December 31, 2002). Special Edition Using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. ISBN 0789727072.
Holzschlag, Molly (October 28, 2002). Design Your Own Home Page. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 2884790136.