Course Description
Course Details
Take your Web design skills to the next level! Whether you want to work as a freelance Web designer, join a Web development team, or build websites for your organization, this course will give you the advanced tools you need. In these lessons, you'll learn to write HTML code for page content and CSS code for page styling. You'll master cutting-edge techniques that take advantage of HTML5 and CSS3, the latest versions of the languages used to create modern websites. With the help of step-by-step instructions, you'll build interactive websites that collect information from visitors through email signup and feedback forms. In addition, you'll learn the latest and most effective techniques for presenting layouts and video that work in any browsing environment from a desktop computer to a mobile device. Along the way, you'll explore aesthetics, color scheming, and accessible Web page design. And don't worry if you have only the most basic exposure to Web design! This course walks you all the way through to purchasing and uploading your site to a remote server. You won't need any special software, either—just the text editor that comes installed with your computer. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced Web designer wanting to update and enhance your skills, this course is perfect for you. In just a few weeks, you'll be designing state-of-the-art websites that offer all the sophisticated elements that today's Web users expect to see.
How It Works
This course is fully online, you require internet access and an email account. The course duration is 6 weeks, followed by a 2-week period to complete the final exam (online, open book). Lessons are released on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week, for a total of 12. You are not required to be online at any specific time. In addition to the specific lesson content, there is a discussion board with each lesson and often there is an optional assignment to apply the learning. Following each lesson, there is a short multiple choice quiz. Your score on these quizzes does not count towards the final mark but completing these helps solidify your learning as well as prepare you for the final exam. The final exam is an open-book, multiple choice exam and you need to achieve a minimum of 65% on the final exam to pass the course. There is only one opportunity to pass the exam. A certificate of completion from WatSPEED is available within four weeks of successful completion of each course and can be accessed in your student portal. Many of the Ed2Go courses are eligible towards the various online certificates offered by WatSPEED.
Requirements
This course is suitable for Windows or Mac users. You will need to download and install a free code editor for Windows or Mac.
Syllabus
Lesson 1 - What Is Advanced Web Design?. If you want to take your Web pages from okay to "wow," it’s time to move up to Web 2.0. In this lesson, you’ll explore the core elements of advanced Web design: interaction, animation, and page design that’s flexible and accessible to visitors on any device.
Lesson 2 - Creating Your First CSS Style Sheet. Today, you’ll enter the world of advanced Web design by building your first CSS style sheet. When you’re done, you’ll link this style sheet to an HTML page and discover how you can instantly make changes to that page, or even to a thousand pages at the same time. In addition, you’ll explore some key elements of Web page design.
Lesson 3 - Formatting Your Text. Your website text isn’t just a collection of words, it’s also a design element that can tell your visitors what you’re all about! In this lesson, you’ll find out how to specify the appearance of your text using your CSS style sheet. We’ll talk about setting your font size, color, line spacing, alignment, background, borders, margins, and padding.
Lesson 4 - Designing and Formatting Links. Links are a key part of any Web page, and there’s more to designing them than you might think. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to create links that suit the purpose of your site, the technological sophistication of your audience, and the image you want to portray. In addition, we’ll raise that controversial question when it comes to link design: to underline, or not to underline?
Lesson 5 - Formatting Selected Text and Creating Content Boxes. Today, you’ll expand your horizons by learning how to format selected page content. After that, you’ll take a big step into advanced design by discovering how to use class styles to design content boxes. In the process, you’ll learn all about two powerful Web design tools: div tags and span tags.
Lesson 6 - Creating Containers, Headers, and Footers. Each Web page is unique, but three elements are almost universal: a container, a header, and a footer. In this lesson, you’ll build these three elements by combining a new tool, ID styles, with div tags. In addition, you’ll find out how to embed div tags within containers.
Lesson 7 - Adding Columns and Interactivity. Today, you’ll take your layout to a new level by adding columns to your Web page. You’ll discover how to place multiple columns on a page, how to pad your columns, and how to create an attractive column layout that’s easy to read. In addition, we’ll make your columns interactive!
Lesson 8 - Making Your Pages Look Great on Any Device. Do you use a mobile device to browse the Web? More and more people do, and to keep them happy, you’ll need to provide mobile-friendly content. But how can you do that, and still design a page that works on a big screen? Today, you’ll find out how to create Web pages that look different, but still great, on both full-sized monitors and mobile devices.
Lesson 9 - Designing With HTML5. Web designers always need to be thinking about the future, and that future will include HTML5. In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the advantages of this up-and-coming coding language, and you’ll add HTML5 elements to your own Web page. In addition, you’ll find out which environments currently support HTML5 and which ones don’t.
Lesson 10 - Embedding Video in Your Web Pages. A great video can increase your website traffic, sell your products, or even make you a superstar. But here’s the big issue you’ll face as a Web designer: Not all video formats work with all browsers. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to overcome that problem as you master simple tricks for embedding videos that will play in any browsing environment.
Lesson 11 - Creating Forms. What do you need to know about your website’s visitors, their names, their email addresses, or maybe even how they rate your site? Today, you’ll find out how to collect information like this (and much more) by adding forms to your pages. In these chapters, you’ll build your own form, add form fields, and define where your collected data will go.
Lesson 12 - Uploading and Fine-Tuning Your Pages. You’ve mastered it all, interactivity, animation, and accessibility, and you’re ready to call yourself an advanced Web designer. Now it’s time to take the next step and reveal your site to the world. Today, you’ll learn how to upload your site to the Web and how to check your spelling, links, accessibility, and browser compatibility. And here’s the great news: You’ll do it all for free!
