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Web Design 1: This course is an introduction to creating professional-quality websites for business, community, entertainment, or personal uses. Students will develop the knowledge and skills to create attractive and functional websites, emphasizing both the technology and design processes. They will learn the fundamental concepts and tools for creating websites using HTML (the language used to structure web pages and online content) and CSS (the language used to give a website its form and visual style). Students will develop a final project of their own choosing, using a high-level Content Management System (CMS) to create a fully functional website.
Web Design 2: Students who already have the knowledge and skills of Web Design 1 can pursue the field in greater depth in Web Design 2. Students in this course will conceive, research, design, develop, and operate a functioning website for a real client or user community. The website focus and goals are first developed in a project proposal. Once the project is approved, students are expected to work with a high degree of independence and self-direction to bring it to fruition, emphasizing good planning, user research, documentation, communication, design, technology, and usability. Team projects are encouraged, as web design is a highly collaborative and multidisciplinary endeavor.
WHAT
This course will give you the knowledge and skills to design professional-quality websites. There are no prerequisites other than a basic familiarity with computers and software applications (such as Word) and an interest in learning.
WHY
In today’s online world, websites are the essential medium for communication and information in business, entertainment, education, government, and almost any other aspect of life you can think of.
Learning how to construct a website is valuable for many reasons: it’s a very marketable skill, valuable knowledge for your own needs, and useful for a better understanding of how websites work. At a minimum, after this course, you can be a smarter consumer of online information.
HOW
Developing a website involves delving into design and technology. We will explore both aspects of the process to learn how to create websites that are both functional and attractive.
Through a combination of classwork, assignments, quizzes/tests, and project work, you will the learn the fundamentals of the practice of web design. A series of short assignments lead up to a final project, for which you will build a small but functional website, with the possibility to work in small teams. There will be flexibility in the topic for the final project, allowing you to explore subjects that interest you.
TOPICS
| Unit | Topics | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Internet/Web Basics | Internet Architecture Website Survey Website Rubrics Design Process |
2 weeks |
| Site Content | Page Elements Images & Media HTML Coding |
3 weeks |
| Site Form | Visual Design Style Sheets CSS Coding |
3 weeks |
| Site Structure | Information Architecture Usability Analysis Development Tools |
2 weeks |
| Content Management Systems (CMS) | Blog Site Development Themes, Pages, Posts, Widgets |
2 weeks |
| Site Planning | Client Research & Analysis Site Design & Documentation |
2 weeks |
| Final Project | Project Proposal Project Documentation Project Prototype Project Implementation User Testing |
4 weeks |
GRADES
Grades will be based on the components as shown below.
| Assignments | 50% |
| Classwork | 20% |
| Final Project | 15% |
| Quizzes/Tests | 15% |
There will be opportunities to earn extra credit for optional reading, writing, design, or presentation projects of relevance to the course subject matter. Credit for professionalism will be earned by a variety of leadership, collaboration, and participation activities.
LATE WORK
This course is structured so that you can accomplish most of the required work during class sessions, because much of it requires software and supplies that are in our lab. But things always come up, from absences to illness to just needing extra time. Late work will be accepted, without regard to cause, because I would rather have you do the work and learn the material we cover than not.
However, to be fair and to encourage you to keep up with the work, late assignments will be marked down 10%. And you can submit late work not more than two weeks past the due date, without extenuating circumstances.
MATERIALS
Please be sure to have a composition book for the class (as well as writing instruments, of course), as you will need it for notes and keeping a journal. If you intend to work on your projects outside of school, you will need a flash drive to transport digital files back and forth.
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