#wdds22 course calendar

About the Course Calendar

Texts are to be read/watched/listened to for day they are listed. Homework in addition to texts will be presented in yellow. The schedule is subject to change; it is your responsibility to check it regularly.

We meet as a full class unless the schedule reads, “Meeting Individually.”

Week One: Introductions: Meet as Full Class

W 1/19: Introductions, Syllabus, Book; Arianna, Julianna, Nasir, Makiah, Nick, Anastasia, Katie

Assignment for Friday, 1/21
Please read through the course web site carefully and post two questions you have about it to this anonymous form:

https://forms.gle/MDQ6ZAmUVGhSCcJt5

Please download each of the following required software applications, including the multiple browsers:

The university has negotiated a way for students to obtain the Adobe Creative Cloud for a significantly reduced price: $55.00 for the year (the usual price is $599.00 per year, so this is incredible savings). You can find out about it at the SJU Adobe Creative Cloud for Students page. If you require financial assistance to purchase Adobe Creative Cloud, please complete the Technology Assistance form.

If you have any other questions, please let me know!

F 1/21: Brief intros, get to know each other; What is the Internet?; 40 Maps

Week Two: First Look at HTML, Student Guests, Starting on Workflow

Assignment for Monday, 1/24
If you have yet to post your questions about the syllabus, please do so by Friday at 5:00pm so I can prepare them for class on Monday:

https://forms.gle/MDQ6ZAmUVGhSCcJt5

You are required to have your own web domain, which you should have purchased in COM 200. If not, or if it has expired due to lack of use, please go to Reclaim Hosting, click Sign Up, and choose the Personal ($30/year) option (plus the $15 for the domain, which is a new charge for new accounts). Make sure your URL is professional and easily identified with you, like williamwolff.org is identified with me. Choose a .com or .net domain; try to avoid .org unless the others are taken. You will need to have the URL hosted by them, as well.

VERY IMPORTANT: If your URL has been expired for more than 30 days there is no guarantee Reclaim Hosting will be able that domain back, and for more than 90 days the data is no longer on our servers. I strongly recommend you purchase a new domain and make sure you don’t let it expire.

To check the status of your URL, or your Domain, log in to Reclaim Hosting and then hover over the Domains menu item and click on My Domains:

You MUST have your URL with you for class on Monday.

VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you see the confirmation email Reclaim Hosting sends to you that has the subject heading, “[Reclaim Hosting] New Account Information.” It may take a day to get that confirmation email, so please don’t wait until the last minute to sign up. If you don’t see it, look in your spam. You MUST click on the link in that email or in a few weeks Reclaim Hosting will cancel your purchase.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me.

M 1/24: Syllabus questions; URL check; URL Form
Share Individual Story of Learning Documents

Assignment for Wednesday, 1/26
There is quite a bit below, so please read carefully.

Please read “The Importance of Web Standards” and be ready to discuss as we look at HTML and CSS code for the first time.

Please make sure you have downloaded each of the required software applications (see homework for last Friday).

If during our class check on Monday, you needed to contact Reclaim Hosting about your URL, please email me by Wednesday with the results, and add your URL to the URL form:

https://forms.gle/XkoJXe3wi9N4s9TM9

If you already have a WordPress blog set up at your URL, you will need to clone and move it for class (no info will be lost). To do this, please watch use this tutorial to do so by  the start of class Wednesday:

In class on Friday, we will have prior Web Design students visiting to talk about their experiences in the class and respond to questions you have. By class time on Wednesday, please add two or three questions using the below linked Questions for Student Guests form you’d like the students to address. Your questions can be about any aspect of the course; students will be honest in their responses. This is a very important day and students always say how much they get out of it, so do your best to be present. I’ll collate and prepare them for Friday, but I’ll need a few days to do that:

https://forms.gle/cspt6Kby3aCs8gg29

I will be sharing with you your individual My Story of Learning GoogleDocs. That document is only available to me and each individual student; no one else can see it. Please watch this important video about the Story of Learning and come to class with any questions you have.

Your Story of Learning Part 1 is due 1/28 and your first weekly update is due on 2/4.

Wed 1/26: Sample HTML and CSS Code; Sample HTML5 & CSS page; sample-html.pdf; sample-style-css.pdf

Assignment for Friday, 1/28
If you have yet to add questions for former web design students, please complete the below Questions for Student Guests form by 5:00 on on Wednesday so I can organize them for class on Friday. Your questions can be about any aspect of the course; students will be honest in their responses. This is a very important day and students always say how much they get out of it, so do your best to be present.

https://forms.gle/cspt6Kby3aCs8gg29

If you have yet to share your URL with me, do so immediately by completing the URL Form and let me know when you have. We are starting coding this week, so that needs to be set up and in place.

https://forms.gle/XkoJXe3wi9N4s9TM9

If you need to clone and move your WordPress install, follow the video in the homework for Wednesday.

F 1/28: Former Web Design Students Visit Class
Part 1: My Story of Learning Due by 11:00pm

Week Three: Intro to HTML and Workflow

Assignment for Monday, 1/31
Your My Story of Learning Part 1 is due on Friday evening, so please make sure that is complete. Your first Weekly Update is due Friday 2/4 by 5:00pm.

The assignments for next week are going to introduce you to your first HTML coding and the process of transferring your newly coded files to the server so you can read them on the web. There are two videos for the these three class and they are below.

Monday marks the start of our weekly meetings, which as you know will take place via Zoom so we can share computer screens. I have emailed you a link to the individual meeting schedule, but you can also access it on the Readings and Texts page. It is your responsibility to see when your weekly meetings are, as they rotate so everyone gets a Friday off from class. Be sure to arrive in the class Zoom (link also on the Readings page) a few minutes before so you are not late.

You are responsible for completing the required work for the day it is due — even if your individual meeting is not on that particular day. I will check that it is done. It is due by the time class would usually start. The assignments build on each and take time. Don’t let yourself get behind.

Please watch the below videos in the order they appear below; the first is needed in order to understand the second. Take your time as you work through these videos and the coding below and for the other days. Take notes; as riveting as they are, don’t watch them as if they are Netflix show. I’ve found students learn the material faster when they take notes. It can be tricky to get at first, but over time it will appear more natural. Don’t skip steps; with coding that leads to confusion. If you have questions or have trouble through any steps in the process, please let me know.

The Videos

This video will introduce you to the concept of servers, how we transfer files to the server, and web design workflow. (Some of it we discussed in class last Friday, but goes into greater depth.) The video covers:

0:00: What happens when you go to a web page using a browser and how servers function
6:00: Differentiating between The Internet and The World Wide Web
8:10: The Web Design Workflow (including creating your web design folder)
17:10: Starting the list of Best Practices
18:12: Transferring files from our computer to the server using FileZilla
27:50: Code, Save, Upload, Refresh, Repeat

This video will introduce you to how to setup your FTP account, connect to and use FileZilla, and start using Brackets or Atom. The video covers:

0:00: Getting the FTP account set up in Reclaim Hosting
4:00: Logging in to FileZilla using your FTP login info
9:25: Getting started with Brackets (or Atom) and creating your index.html page
11:30: The standard HTML skeleton for an HTML page
15:50: Using FileZilla to upload files to the server
17:35: Refreshing Firefox Dev Edition to see the coded page (YAY!) and repeating the process

The Coding Assignment
Please read Duckett, chapter 1, on the structure of an HTML page. When completed, I’d like you to try to code a very basic page, copying the code that Duckett presents on page 20. Copy the code verbatim, though you may include your own sample content. Then, also add the following so the start of your code looks like this:

<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>

Then, Save the page in your web design folder as index.html. Note, always use all lowercase folder and file names.

When complete, upload your new index.html file to the public_html folder on your server using the Web Design Workflow steps in the videos above.

If you have trouble, only try to get it to work a few times. If it doesn’t, STOP. Note what you have done and if we meet on Friday, we’ll talk about it. If we don’t meet on Monday, email me immediately so we can set up a time to meet.

M 1/31: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/2
If you have yet to complete the homework due on Monday, do that immediately and let me know when it is completed. It needs to be completed before you can move on to the below homework.

Also, Part 1 of your Story of Learning was due on Friday, so please make sure that is completed, as well.

There are no videos to watch for Wednesday.

The Coding Assignment
Please read Duckett, chapters 2, 3, and 4. In the “index.html” file you worked on for Monday, please experiment with the following:

  • three levels of headings
  • paragraphs
  • line breaks
  • ordered lists
  • unordered lists

If you are feeling confident, try to find out how to make text bold and italics and add that. As part of the lists you create, I’d like you to create ABSOLUTE links to 3 web pages that are important to you.

As you are coding and updating your code, please follow clean coding techniques, which are discussed around the 12:00 mark in the Setting Up and Using FTP and Brackets video you watched for Monday.

As always, email me any and all questions you have.

W 2/2: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Friday, 2/4
There are no videos for Friday.

In Brackets, please create a new HTML file called “portfolio.html” by going to File –> New to create the new file and then Save As, and save “portfolio.html” to your web design folder.

In portfolio.html, code the base structure of an HTML page, including the <html></html>, <head></head>, <title>ADD YOUR NAME</title>, and <body></body> tags in the right order. As a reminder, see 11:30 in the “Setting Up and Using FTP and Brackets video for Monday. Use clean coding techniques. Then, add your name as a <h1></h1> heading, using proper coding.

Then, create a RELATIVE link from “index.html” to “portfolio.html” and one from “portfolio.html” to “index.html.” (See Duckett ch 4 for relative linking.)

Upload both the new portfolio.html and revised index.html to the server using FileZilla. When asked if you want to Overwrite index.html, click Okay. Check to see if the links work.

Also, your first Story of Learning weekly update is due on Friday by 5:00pm. Remember, you are required to include screenshots of your web page and code, as well as your brief written update.

As always, email me any and all questions you have.

F 2/4: Meeting Individually
First Weekly Update Due by 5:00pm

Week Four: Images, Accessibility, and Review

Assignment for Monday, 2/7
Week Four is going in introduce us to adding images and  accessibility, as well as a brief review assignment. As a result, there will be two videos to watch, one for Monday and one for Wednesday. Please take notes as you are watching the videos, just as you would in class, so that it is a more active and less passive viewing experience.

Before watching the video for Monday, please read Duckett on Images, pages 95-102 and 107 – 118. Then, find a photo of yourself that you feel comfortable putting online and rename it something meaningful (like, bill-portrait.jpg instead of PC450854.JPG), using no spaces and all lowercase letters, including in the extension (jpg instead of JPG, for example). Important: the image must be a .jpg, .png, or .gif; no other file format will work. The extension should also be all lowercase: .jpg not .JPG.

Then, watch the video.

The Video

This video will introduce you to coding images in HTML, organizing your directory, and a bit of FTP review. The breakdown:

0:00: Review of the basic HTML skeleton for all pages
4:25: The basic code for images
7:20: Review of Code, save, upload, refresh, repeat, and Best Practices
8:15: Organizing the directory and creating the images folder
14:00: Breaking down the image code according to directory structure and more Best Practices
26:35: Coding the image again in Brackets and uploading it to the server

The Assignment
After watching the video, please complete the steps as outlined in the video:

  1. Create a directory (folder) in your web design folder called images (all lowercase).
  2. Put the image you have selected into that folder.
  3. Create a director (folder) in your public_html folder called images (all lowercase).
  4. Drag your image from the images folder in the web design folder into the images folder in the public_html  folder on the server.
  5. Re-code your index.html file to make it more friendly to someone who is coming to your site. You might explain that you are coding for a class and add a link to your blog, if you’d like. Personalize, in other words.
  6. Add to your index.html file the code for your image, as explained by Duckett and in the video. (You don’t need to add anything to the portfolio.html file.)
  7. Upload your updated index.html file to the server.
  8. Refresh Firefox Dev edition and see what happens!

Important Note
I’d like you to start getting into the habit of doing what is called a Hard Refresh when refreshing your FireFire Dev Edition browser. You will need to do this to ensure your CSS is working when we get to that, but (like much of what we are doing now) it is good to get into the habit of certain practices so it is more natural later. I can explain in more detail what a Hard Refresh does, but essential it ensures that your coding updates are being rendered.

To do a Hard Refresh in FireFox Dev Edition, using the follow keys instead of clicking the refresh icon:

  • Mac: COMMAMD + SHIFT + R (or SHIFT + Refresh Icon)
  • PC:  CTRL + SHIFT + R (or CTRL + F5)

And, remember, your first Weekly Update was due on Friday, so please complete it if you have yet to do so.

M 2/7: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/9
Now that we have added images to our page, we need to think about accessibility. That is, how users who have visual impairments are able to understand both that there is an image on the page and what the image looks like. The goal in accessible design is to provide those with visual, auditory, and other impairments with a commensurate user experience. The video introduces a few ways to ensure that happens.

For this homework, please watch the video and then complete the assignment.

The Video

This video introduces the concept of Access First Design, how to create appropriate ALT and Title text for images, and accessible links. It covers:

0:00: Access First Design
4:40: Defining ALT and Title Text
9:15: First example of ALT and Title text
13:45: Second example of ALT and Title text
18:00: Creating accessible links
22:20: Final thoughts on accessibility and Human Centered Design

The Assignment
Using the video as a guide, please add descriptive ALT text and appropriate TITLE text to all of your images.

Please update your links to add appropriate TITLE and anchor text (or, the part that you click on).

ALL future images must include ALT and TITLE text and all links must include appropriate TITLE and anchor text.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

W 2/9: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Friday, 2/11
The assignment for Friday is going to give you an opportunity to review what you have learned so far, reflect on how you are feeling about what you have learned so far, and provide me with some additional insight about where each one of you are at.

On Wednesday I will be emailing you a file, tags.txt, which asks you to follow some prompts by adding the necessary code. For example, you will see:

<!-- PUT THE APPROPRIATE OPENING AND CLOSING TAGS AFTER THE DESCRIPTION -->

<!-- unordered list --> ADD RESPONSE HERE
<!-- ordered list --> ADD RESPONSE HERE

All you need to do is replace ADD RESPONSE HERE with the appropriate code. There are also a few questions to respond to.

Though I will be assessing it, this is not a quiz, nor are you expected to have memorized any of the code. It is merely a moment share what you have learned and reflect a bit. You are welcome to use the book. The book’s index is extremely helpful. I recommend completing it by yourself, however, because it will give you a better insight into what you, yourself, knows.

To complete the assignment, follow these steps:

  1. Download tags.txt to your computer USING CHROME OR FIREFOX. DO NOT USE SAFARI!!!!!!!!!!
  2. Open it in Brackets by going to File –> Open and then save it to your web design folder as tags.html.
  3. Complete the document, saving as you go.
  4. Upload tags.html to your public_html folder on the server by 11:00pm. I’ll be able to find it and look at it after that.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Your Story of Learning Weekly Update is due by 5:00pm on Friday.

F 2/11: Meeting Individually

Week Five: Emotional Design & Simon Sinek

Assignment for Monday, 2/14
This week we will be meeting as a FULL CLASS M and F as we start to consider the design elements of our sites and not just code. There is no class Wednesday due the Day of Dialogue.

Please read chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Aarron Walter’s Designing for Emotion (it’s a quick read with lots of pictures–see the Readings page).

Search the web for FIVE portfolio web sites by professionals in the field(s) you wish to go into upon graduation that you think embody emotional design principles and employ content well.

Don’t forget to complete your Story of Learning Weekly Update if you didn’t complete it last Friday.

M 2/14: Full Class Meeting: Emotional Design and Found Portfolios; emotional-design-notes-f22.docx
Hand out Project 1: Responsive, Accessible Portfolio Assignment

Assignment for Friday, 2/18
The Day of Dialogue is Wednesday so class is not meeting.

For Friday, first please read through the Project 1: Responsive, Accessible Portfolio Assignment. Come to class with questions.

Then, complete the emotional-design-notes-f22.docx that we may or may not have started in class on Monday. Answering these questions will be very important as we begin to create a personality for our site. You will be adding to this document based on the Sinek video below and another assignment for next Monday. Please have it ready with you in class on Friday.

Please read Walter, chapters 4 and 7, and Boulton (2007) and Muller (2012) on White Space (all available on the Readings and Texts page), and be ready to discuss them in class. Also continue looking for web sites that you think have a clear personality. Caviar, for example, has personality:

Caviar web site screen shot

Please watch the below TED talk by Simon Sinek:

After watching Sinek’s talk, I’d like you to add to the Emotional Design notes document two of your Why? statements. First address the question: What is your core belief that guides all of your actions in the world? Second, address the question: What is your core belief that guides (or you hope to guide) your actions in the workforce? Start each sentence with “I believe. . . .” The two can be related, though they don’t need to be.

W 2/16: Class Canceled — Day of Dialogue
F 2/18: Full Class Meeting: Simon Sinek and the Golden Circle; Vocal Type; Amplifier Art; Freres Branchiaux; 4Ocean; Paper Culture; ProPublica
Hand out Design Persona Assignment

Week Six: HTML5, CSS, Color Theory, and Typefaces

Assignment for Monday, 2/21
The assignment for Monday is on the subject of diversity in the tech industry, a subject of great importance. It will further our discussions on being intentional in your design and career choices. Please read the articles by Sara Harrison (2019), Olu Niyiawosusi (2020), and the “Creating a Diverse Technology Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Solution” section (pages 23 and 24) of the report by Allison Scott and co-authors. (The report is fascinating, so you might be interested in reading the whole thing.) See Readings and Texts page for links.

Then, I’d like you to look up the diversity statistics of the field you hope you join one day. (If you are unsure what you want to pursue, you can look up communications, marketing, or web design.) You can just search, “[your field” + diversity statistics.” Based on what you find, complete the following questions under a My Possible Future Field heading in the emotional-design-notes-f22.docx we started last week:

What are the demographics of your potential future field? Try to find statistics from 2019 or later. Break them down by (if possible) at least race, gender, gender identity, and age. What do these statistics tell you about the diversity of your possible future field?

What kind business are you hoping to work for? Women or minority owned? Why and what do you think the benefit would be working for that kind of business?

What would need to be part of a business’s mission statement to make you want to choose them? If you are interested in starting your own business, how will you show your commitment to diversity and inclusion?

When finished, share the document with me so it can be assessed. If, before you share it, you would prefer to remove your statements where you discuss your “core belief that guides all of your actions in the world,” please do. That was assigned for your own personal benefit and I don’t need to see it.

Be ready to discuss the articles and have the answers to the questions ready in class.

Don’t forget your Story of Learning weekly update was due on Friday. Even though we didn’t have any coding, you can write about what you learned about emotional design and the why statements.

M 2/21: Full Class Meeting: Diversity in the Tech Industry

Assignment for Wednesday, 2/23
There is quite a bit for Wednesday. Please follow the instructions exactly as written and complete it in order.

We are starting to work only in your portfolio.html file, not your index.html file.

  1. In your portfolio.html file, add three levels of headings to your page:
    1. <h1></h1>: your name;
    2. <h2></h2>: the word Portfolio;
    3. <h3></h3>: used twice, once for each of the titles of each of your portfolio items you will add in step 3.
  2. Go back to your emotional design notes document and look to the content section.
  3. Choose the two most important content items you wrote about and add them to your portfolio.html file below the appropriate <h3></h3> tag using the appropriate HTML image code. These should be images. If your item is a PDF doc, for example, take a screenshot of it, change the file name to something meaningful. (Please do not include videos just yet because we have not learned how to embed them.)
  4. Upload these portfolio item images to your images folder on the server.
  5. Directly under each portfolio item, include the following:
    1. A brief paragraph in which you describe the item you have created, if it was created for a particular community partner, your goals for it, and your role in creating it (sole creator, part of a team, etc.).
    2. Under the paragraph, include an unordered bulleted list where you list
      1. the software and/or hardware used (such as the camera)
      2. any camera settings that were used
      3. creation date
      4. any custom pallets or shortcuts you created for the project
      5. a link to download a PDF version of it (if applicable)
  6. Save and upload your updated portfolio.html file to the public_html folder (make sure you’re not putting in the images folder).
  7. Then, please read pages 429 – 439 in Duckett on HTML5.
  8. Then, watch the below video, which elaborates on Duckett. It also contains important information on HTML commenting, which is a way to help you leave notes for yourself in your code. Use these often.

The Video

The video covers:

0:00: Introduction to HTML5
2:45: Breaking down <section> and <header> tags
9:08: HTML Comments and adding notes in your code for yourself
10:58: Breaking down the <figure> tag

HTML5 Assignment
After reading Duckett and watching the video, go to your newly updated portfolio.html file and add the following HTML5 codes in the appropriate places:

  • <header></header>
  • <section></section>
  • <figure></figure>

Be sure to use the commenting techniques outlined in the video, as well.

If you add the codes correctly, you should not see any change to your portfolio as it looks in the browser.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

W 2/23: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Friday, 2/25
If you have yet to complete the work for Wednesday, please so immediately. You’ll be using the code created for Wednesday in the work you do for Friday.

We’re going to be starting to learn CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which is used to style web sites. The video for Friday discusses how to conceptualize what is happening when the browser is reading both .html and .css files together to lay out a web page, and highlights some very basic CSS coding. Both videos were created with the understanding that you will also read Duckett, so please be sure you are doing that, as well.

This is the moment when coding starts to get a bit more more complicated, so please pay special attention to the videos, take detailed notes, and use the book as a resource.

The Video

The video covers:

0:00: Introduction to CSS and envisioning the relationship between .html and .css files
3:00: The stylesheet code that links .html and .css together
10:58: Creating the styles folder (or directory) in FileZilla
11:55: Adding the stylesheet code to your .html file in Brackets
14:05: Creating the main.css file in Brackets
15:01: Coding a basic CSS page with color and uploading the files to the correct directories
30:30: What to look for when your page isn’t displaying as you think it should

The Assignment
After watching the video, make sure you have created the following that was described in it:

  1. the styles folder (or directory) in the web design folder on your computer and the public_html folder (or directory) on the server
  2. the main.css file saved to your styles folder
  3. the stylesheet linking code in the <head></head> section of portfolio.html
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles/main.css" type="text/css" />
    (Note, if you copy and paste this code from here, make sure the “” are square and not rounded. Rounded ones will cause it not to work.)

When that is complete, please read Duckett 227 – 237 (ignore 238 and the rest of chapter 10 for now) and chapter 11, which introduce stylesheets (CSS) and how to style color in various ways (ignore the CSS3 stuff for now).

Please try to style color to the following selectors in your new main.css file:

  • body
  • h1
  • h2
  • h3
  • p
  • li

Please note that though we are working in the portfolio.html file right now, we are just testing out the CSS code and colors and playing a bit. Once you have your design persona finished, you’ll be changing the colors based on what you wrote in it.

As always, if things aren’t working for you as you code, please email me and let me know what is happening in as much detail as possible.

And don’t forget Open Coding starts this week. You can sign up on the Weekly Meetings page.

F 2/25: Meeting Individually

Week Seven: More on CSS; fonts; and persona to code

Assignment for Monday, 2/28
The video and assignment for Monday will continue to expand our introduction to CSS by focusing specifically on styling fonts and lists.

To prepare for the video, I’d like you to read Duckett chapter 12 on text and chapter 14, only the content relating to lists. Please also read Santa Maria, chapters 3 and 4, on Web Typography (see the Readings page). This is a wonderful text that really digs into typeface, so read it carefully. (If you haven’t studied typeface before, I also encourage you to read chapters 1 and 2.)

The Videos

This video introduces you to Google Fonts and how to code Google Fonts into your HTML and CSS files. Please note that the GoogleFonts interface has changed slightly since this video was made, but the process of adding the code to your HTML and CSS is exactly the same. It covers:

0:00: Introduction to the Google Fonts web site
6:50: Selecting a Google Font and Coding it in to your site

This video introduces how to size and display fonts using CSS. It covers:

0:00: Introducing font-sizing
1:15: On the font-family property
3:12: On the text-align property
4:00: On the font-size property and intro to Ems
9:05: On the letter-spacing property
11:10: On the line-height property
12:25: Pointing to additional font-related properties in Duckett

This video introduces sizing using the EM size unit. The video covers:

0:00: Introduction to Ems
2:25: Calculating Ems in terms of Pixels
2:50: Getting started with Ems, what to keep in mind
4:20: Calculating various Em sizes

The Assignment
Now that you have watched the videos on using Google Fonts and the basics of styling fonts, I’d like you to complete the following:

  1. Go to Google Fonts and select TWO Header fonts and ONE body font that you can experiment with for Monday (You will be more deliberately choosing font combinations for your Design Persona; this is just to experiment and play).
  2. Using the video and Duckett as guides, code in your Google Fonts and then style your h1, h2, h3, p, and li selectors with the following:
    1. font-family:
    2. font-size: (use ems, as in the video)
    3. letter-spacing: (use ems, as in the video)
    4. line-height: (use ems, as in the video)
    5. anything else you’d like to try from pages 279 – 282 in Duckett
  3. Style your ul or ol with:
    1. list-style-type: (page 333 in Duckett)

Be sure to upload your portfolio.html and main.css to the correct locations on the server.

Remember, Duckett is a wonderful resource for the kinds of things we are styling and the last page of his book is designed to to help you. It is a list of dozens of CSS Properties with page numbers so you can easily find you need.

I will be checking everyone’s web sites on Monday to see how you’re doing with the week’s work, so be sure you are keeping up with it. As you can see, we’re moving faster now.

Remember to complete your Story of Learning weekly update.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

M 2/28: Meeting Individually

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/2
There is no reading or coding for Wednesday, since your Design Personas are due by 11:00pm on Wednesday in the Google Drive folder that Bill will share with you on Tuesday.

If you are behind with your coding, please also try to use this time to get caught up a bit.

We meet as a FULL CLASS on Wednesday.

W 3/2: Full Class Meeting: fonts and meeting with coding groups; typeface-handout.pdf
Design Persona Due by 11:00pm in the Google Drive folder Bill shared
F 3/4: Full Class Meeting: persona to code and meeting with coding groups; persona-to-code-s22.docx
Discuss Midterm Story of Learning

Week Eight: Boxes, Floats, and Divs

Assignment for Monday, 3/7
We will be meeting as a FULL CLASS all next week. This is a VITAL week of class; try to keep up and to be present for each meeting.

Since our Project 1 rough drafts are due next week, we’re going to start the week by setting up the CSS and HTML5 template files we need in order to complete the project. Then, we’re going to start jumping into more advanced CSS by thinking about layout and positioning. Doing this means talking about boxes, divisions, and floats, three of the more challenging concepts in CSS. But, once you get them you will be well on your way to designing the layouts of most sites. As with everything we’re doing, we’ll be going step by step through the process.

It is vital that you complete the work in the order assigned, and take detailed notes on the box model videos.

Part 1: Persona to Code
Make sure you have completed the persona-to-code-s22.docx, which we started in class on Friday. One you’ve completed it, transfer the code from the document to your new main.css and see how your page is starting to come together. Then, move to Part 2.

Part 2: Preparing Your Files
Those template files I’ve prepared for you are located on the Project 1 assignment page under the Preparing Your Files header.

The below video walks you through the process of setting up the Project 1 template files. Please go through the video methodically, pausing it as you accomplish each step, then returning to it for the next step, and so on. This will help ensure you don’t miss a step along the way. Each step is extremely important, so follow the instructions exactly as described. Complete all of the steps and then you can move on to Part 2.

Part 3: Introduction to the Box Model
The below video introduces the concept of boxes, otherwise known as the Box Model. The Box Model is the most important concept for understanding how web pages are structured. The model includes your content area, padding, borders, and margins. Please watch it and take detailed notes.

The video covers:

0:00: Intro to design elements as boxes
1:50: Intro to the Box Model: content, padding, border, margin
2:55: Padding
4:30: Border
5:30: Margins and multiple boxes next to each other
9:00: Applying widths to boxes (border-box)
12:05: Conceptualizing box width percentages
17:10: Looking at the widths in the code

Come to class ready to discuss and experiment a bit with boxes.

If you have the time and feel comfortable with what you have watched, you can get a head start on the work for Wednesday, which is actually layout out your page by employing the box model.

Remember your Story of Learning Weekly Update was due on Friday.

M 3/7: Full class meeting (boxes); sample portfolio page

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/9
The assignment for Wednesday builds on the Box Model video we watched for Monday and work we did in class on Monday.

To prepare for the videos, please read Duckett Chapter 8, which contains a variety of important concepts for more advanced layout, as well as tags you might find yourself using at some point. Please also read Marie Mosely on Box Sizing; much of it may be over your head, which is okay. You’ll start to get it soon.

Then, watch the below video on styling boxes and laying out you portfolio items so they are side-by-side. It should be seen as a compliment to what you have read in Duckett, not a substitute for it. Follow along with the video, completing the assignment as you go.

0:00: Intro and review of the box model
3:30: Adding the box-sizing code
6:50: Centering boxes
10:25: Styling margins
12:50: Styling padding
16:22: Styling borders
21:15: Styling the img tag
24:15: Styling the body tag

The Assignment
I’d like you to follow along with the video by completing the following (it will help having Duckett chapter 8 open, as well):

  1. Copy the appropriate code from Marie Mosely’s article on Box Sizing and paste it into the appropriate part of main.css, as described in the video.
  2. Add the necessary code to ensure centering boxes on your page, as described in the video
  3. Style margins, padding, borders, images, and the body, as appropriate, and as discussed in the video

Try sending questions you have to members of your coding group, and if they aren’t able to help, send them my way and bring additional questions you have to class to talk about with your coding group.

Have fun with it!

W 3/9: Full class meeting; more on boxes
Hand out Project 1 Rough Draft Checklist (.pdf)

Assignment for Friday, 3/11
The first requirement in Project 1 is your page should “contain a writer, artist, or professional statement based on your Why, How, and What statements composed in and for class.” You used or adapted your Why statements in your Design Persona.

For Friday, I’d like you to code into your portfolio.html page your “writer, artist, or professional statement based on your Why, How, and What statements.” Place the statement above your portfolio items. Code and style it using appropriate HTML5 and CSS tags.

The coding assignment for Friday is going to introduce you to positioning elements on your page using class/id and float. These are important concepts to learn, as you will use them whenever you code more advanced layouts. The first video introduces you to the concepts—watch it carefully and take notes—and the second video walks you through the implementation.

To prepare for the videos, please read in Duckett: pages 181 – 186, and 369 – 376. You will also need to have open this document: floating.docx.

The Videos
The first video introduces the concept of positing using class/id and floats, explaining how and why things work. We must understand the how and why before we implement. The second video discusses implementation. Please watch them in order, taking notes on the first. The second is designed to walk you through completing the work while you go.

This video discusses how to position elements on your page using class/id and floats. Specifically, it covers:

0:00: Intro to positioning parts of your page and what you should have open while watching the video, as well as the assignment requirement that your portfolio items appear side-by-side
2:15: Overview of sketch depicting elements side-by-side
4:40: Intro to class and id attributes
6:40: Defining the class attribute, which can be used multiple times
7:15: Defining the id attribute, which can only be used once
8:00: Coding class/id attributes in HTML and the importance of naming
9:35: Coding class/id attributes in CSS and how HTML and CSS are connected
10:20: How the class/id attributes look in actual HTML and CSS code and why I am using class instead of id
12:00: Intro to positioning using floats and widths

This video walks you through positioning your works samples on your portfolio.html page using class/id, float, and clear. Specifically, it covers:

0:00: Intro message about ignoring overflow: auto; in the video
1:05: Intro to positioning elements and what documents you need to have open while watching the video
3:35: Removing the height and width functions from the img in portfolio.html
5:35: Adding classes to the section tags in portfolio.html
8:05: adding text-align: center to the html selector in main.css
9:05: Adding section.left and section.right selectors and associated code to main.css, and explaining the code
11:45: Explaining how browsers interpret and present floated elements and the clear attribute
17:35: Adding the code necessary to ensure the images fit within the boxes by styling the figure and img
23:30: Making additional adjustments to the code

The Assignment
Please complete the steps in the second video so you have by Friday your portfolio items side by side, using floating.docx as a guide. Even though class is canceled Friday, I will be checking to see that it is done.

In addition, review the Project 1 Rough Draft Checklist (.pdf).

Remember your Midterm Story of Learning is due on Friday at 11:00pm. Be sure to see the example I emailed out to everyone. You still must complete a Weekly Update this week, as well.

If you have any questions about the assignment, Project 1, Midterm Story of Learning, anything else, please let me know.

F 3/11: Class Canceled — Have a great Spring Break!
Midterm Story of Learning due by 11:00pm

Spring Break 3/14 – 3/18

Week Nine: Rough Draft and Midterm Conferences

M 3/21: Class Canceled for Rough Draft/Midterm Conferences
Project 1 Rough Draft Due by start of conference
W 3/23: Class Canceled for Rough Draft/Midterm Conferences
F 3/25: Class Canceled for Rough Draft/Midterm Conferences

Week Ten: Intro to Responsive Design

Assignment for Monday, 3/28
The assignments for this week are going to help you transition portfolio.html and main.css from one that is just designed for the computer screen, to one that is designed for phone, tablet, and computer screens. In other words, it will become responsive.

There is one video, but it will be used for the whole week.

For Monday, you will be watching 0:00-29:00 only. (Note: This was the first video I made post-COVID back in Spring 2020 so there are a few hiccups in there as I was working through the kinks of video making.)

To complete the work you will need paper/notebook and a pencil to draw sketches and preparing-for-phone-tablet-s22.docx.

I recommend a pencil and not a pen so you can erase, as needed.

The Video


This video on responsive design covers:

For Monday 3/28
0:00: Review of the main.css stylesheet
4:35: Creating sketches for phone and tablet screens
12:50: Moving from sketches to code
16:20: Completing thepreparing-for-phone-tablet-s22.docx handout to help you move your code
22:35: Removing redundancy from your code

The Assignment
For Monday, first please first read “A Reference Guide For Typography In Mobile Web Design” by Suzanne Scacca, playing close attention to her discussions on fonts, font-sizing, and screen real estate (that is, how to take advantage of space on a small screen). The first 1/3 of the article is more intro to design-in-general stuff. It’s really well-written and -presented, but you can scroll through it if it’s review. Definitely start reading in earnest at the heading, “Typography For Mobile Web Design: What You Need To Know.”

Then, please watch ONLY 0:00 – 29:00 of the above video and complete:

It might be useful for you to complete the sketches and the handout by hand and not on the computer, which is just fine.

However you choose to complete them, please bring to class the following: the three numbered sketches and completed handout. Use Scacca’s discussions on mobile design to inform your phone and tablet font sizing. I am going to be asking you why you decided to size things the way to have and I will be expecting responses that reference Scacca.

M 3/28: Full Class Meeting

Assignment for Wednesday, 3/30
Please watch the remainder of the Preparing for Responsive Design video you’ve been watching this week (28:30 – end), which covers coding the phone screen and uploading the changes.

For Wednesday, please complete the process as discussed in the video. That is:

  • style your phone screen, and
  • if you feel confident, also style your tablet screen, as well.

If you have questions, please first direct them to your coding group and if you’re still stumped, send ’em my way.

Open Coding is available on Wednesday and Thursday, as usual, so please sign up!

W 3/30: Full Class Meeting

Assignment for Friday, 4/1
Th assignment for Friday is going to introduce you to validating your code, which is the process of using software to determine if there are errors in your code.  To validate your code, you’ll have to install the Web Developer Toolbar Extension in Firefox Developer Edition (if you haven’t already).

If you have any questions, please address them to your coding group first and then email me and/or have them ready for your meeting.

Don’t forget to complete your Story of Learning Weekly Update.

The Video

This video discusses strategies for checking for errors and validating that your code is correct using online validation tools and the Web Developer Toolbar. It covers:

0:00: Installing the Web Developer Toolbar Extension in Firefox Developer Edition
1:35: Error Checking Steps
3:00: Validating HTML using the Web Developer Toolbar
6:00: Validating CSS using the Web Developer Toolbar
13:15: Additional Error Checking in the Code
16:30: Review of Using Responsive Design Mode and Talking About Mobile Features

Note that the last minute or two vanished when I was editing, so the video ends rather abruptly, but that was just final parting words.

F 4/1: Full Class Meeting
Portfolio Final Draft Checklist (.pdf)

Week Eleven: Responsive Design (cont), links, video, background images

Assignment for Monday, 4/4 (updated)
This week we have individual meetings all week. Your Project 1 Rough Draft 2 is due by the start of your individual meeting. Use the Portfolio Final Draft Checklist (.pdf) as you are working on your second Rough Draft, trying to check off as many of the boxes as possible and getting your site as close to finished as possible.  To do so, continue to work on your portfolio.html for all three screen sizes: phone, table, and computer. Work on your font sizes, letter-spacing, line-heights, margins, etc.

The following Monday past Web Design students will be visiting to talk about the transition from Project 1 to Project 2. Look for an email from me during the week with a link to a form to add your questions.

For mobile design reference, be sure to look “A Reference Guide For Typography In Mobile Web Design” by Suzanne Scacca, which we read a few weeks ago. Pay close attention to her discussions on fonts, font-sizing, and screen real estate (that is, how to take advantage of space on a small screen). The first 1/3 of the article is more intro to design-in-general stuff. It’s really well-written and -presented, but you can scroll through it if it’s review. Definitely start reading in earnest at the heading, “Typography For Mobile Web Design: What You Need To Know.”

In addition, I have added two videos, a short one on styling links, and another on embedding responsive media (audio, video, etc.), which follows along with the Responsive Media Embedding Tutorial (.docx). I’d like everyone to watch and implement the link-styling video. Only those who have video and/or audio to add to their pages need watch that video.

The Videos

This video discusses styling links using CSS. It’s only 5 minutes, so no timestamps needed.

This video discusses embedding responsive video and audio, following the instructions in the Responsive Media Embedding Tutorial (.docx).. It covers:

0:00: Introductory remarks and the tutorial we’re following
1:30: Creating the HTML5 skeleton so you can easily enter the media code, including the importance of comments
4:10: Styling and explaining the .media-responsive class in your css file
5:25: Styling and explaining the iframe
6:25: Creating the media-responsive class in the HTML
8:05: Copying YouTube embed code and pasting it within media-responsive class in the HTML
9:05: Copying Vimeo embed code and pasting it within media-responsive class in the HTML
10:40: Copying SoundCloud embed code and pasting it within media-responsive class in the HTML
11:40: Uploading the css file, seeing the media on the site, and adding margins between the media to add some white space
13:00: Testing to make sure the media is responsive on phone, tablet, and computer

If you have any questions, as always, please let me know.

M 4/4: Meeting Individually
Project 1 Rough Draft 2 due in weekly meeting

Assignment for Wednesday, 4/6
On Monday, 4/11, we will have prior Web Design students visiting to talk about their experiences moving from Project 1 to Project 2, which is to complete a full web site with homepage, about page, contact page, and portfolio page(s). By class time on Friday, 4/8, please add up to three questions you’d like the students to address. Please make your questions specific to the transition from one project to the next and/or about creating the full site. I’ll collate and prepare them for Monday, but I’ll need a few days to do that, which is why I’d like them posted by Wednesday. Use this form to add your questions:

https://forms.gle/hB8KUYiLvQWNgDbL6

Please continue to work on your portfolio.html for all three screen sizes: phone, table, and computer. Work on your font sizes, letter-spacing, line-heights, margins, etc. Remember, the assignment calls for at least two portfolio items, so you should think about adding another row of items.

I’d also like everyone to add a footer to your portfolio.html page by following the instructions on page 2 of bg-images-footer-s22.docx (page 1 is for background images).

I have moved the due date for the Final Draft of Project 1 from Friday 4/8 at 11:00pm to Sunday, 4/10 at 11:00pm. Use the Portfolio Final Draft Checklist (.pdf), as that is what I will be using to assess your work.

The portfolio assignment also requires you complete two Reflections. These are on the Project 1 assignment page. Follow the submission guidelines as written.

If you have any questions, contact your coding group and if they can’t help you, let me know.

The Video
If you are interested in possibly adding background images to your page, see this video. Only needed if you want to add a background image.

This video covers how to add a single background image and add a background pattern that tiles throughout the whole page. The video follows the instructions on page 1 inbg-images-footer-s22.docx and covers:

0:00: Coding a single background image
11:20: Coding a background pattern

W 4/6: Meeting Individually
F 4/8: Meeting Individually
Project 1: Responsive, Accessible Portfolio Page and Reflections Due by 11:00pm

Week Twelve: Prior Students & About / Contact Pages

M 4/11: Meeting with prior web design students
Release Project 2: Responsive, Accessible Professional Web Site

Assignment for Wednesday, 4/13
We meet as a FULL CLASS on Wednesday.

The Project 2: Responsive, Accessible Professional Web Site assignment is now online. Please read through it, noting how you are going to be adding about.html, contact.html, updating your index.html to include full-screen images that visually tell a story of who you are, and responsive navigation. Don’t start implementing anything yet; there will be videos for much of the work, starting, I’m sorry to say, over Easter Break.

We have come to the part of the semester where your web sites are nearly completely in your hands. Though there are requirements listed for the home page, about page, and contact page, along with some things on the style sheets on the assignment page and there will be a checklist to ensure you have those requirements, you are now encouraged to make the site your own by expanding your site out to additional portfolio-related pages (if you have the content to support such an expansion), trying more advanced designs, and other design and content features (perhaps as you wrote about in your Design Persona).

To help you think of ideas, I’d like you to look at the portfolio examples you found weeks ago, as well as prior Web Design student web pages, and come to class with up to 3 design or aesthetics features you’d like to to try implement on your site. Those features should consistent with the brand traits you described in your design personas. You can find prior semester pages at:

Note that the farther back you go, the more likely the web sites will, sadly, no longer be active.

To complete the assignment, please:

  1. Go through past student web sites (or other web sites you like) and find three design or aesthetic features you’d like to try to implement.
    1. Do not choose the following, as they are required in Project 2:
      1. full screen home page
      2. navigation bar
      3. about and contact pages
  2. View the web page source code and see if you can figure out how that feature was implemented.
  3. Be ready to talk about each of the three in class, as I’d like everyone to show one feature they liked and want to try to implement.

Please do not add to or change your portfolio.html page and main.css in any way. I need to assess them over the Easter break before you can make changes.

Don’t forget to complete your weekly update. Please also make sure you have completed the required Project 1 Reflections. If you haven’t, complete them by Thursday.

If you have any questions, please address them to your coding group first and then me, if needed.

W 4/13: About Project 2 and design plans

Assignment for Wednesday, 4/20
Unfortunately, I’m going to need to assign a few things over the Easter Break. Try your best to get through them both; at the very least, complete the first video, which is on creating your about.html and contact.html pages. The second one is about setting up your new index.html page. If you have images on computers or devices at home, please grab them if you are home for the holiday.

Please do not edit your portfolio.html file until I email you and sat that you can. I will be assessing them over the break.

If you have any questions, please direct them first to your coding group and if they can’t answer, to me.

Don’t forget to complete your Story of Learning Weekly Update.

The Videos

This video discusses Project 2 and creating your about.html and contact.html pages. It covers:

0:00: Introduction and a review of Project 2: Responsible, Accessible Professional Site assignment
3:50: How to create about.html and contact.html
11:25: How to create and embed your form using the free form creating site, Wufoo

This video describes the process of creating full screen images for your homepage on all screen sizes. It covers:

0:00: Introduction
2:37: Sizing images for phone, table, and computer screens (Note: you cannot simply resize an image; you must CROP them to the actual sizes on the assignment page.)
7:33: The project templates and how to copy them
9:35: Detailed discussion of the index.html template
12:27: Detailed discussion of the imagehome.css template and styling the text
21:15: Styling the images

F 4/15: No Class — Easter Break

Week Thirteen: Project 2: Home and Navigation

M 4/18: No Class — Easter Break
W 4/20: About, Contact, and Home Page

Assignment for Friday, 4/22
The videos for Friday are the last prepared videos of the semester. The first covers installing the required responsive navigation bar, which actually requires having TWO navigation bars, one that controls the navigation on the phone and tablet screens, the other that controls the navigation on your computer screen. In the process you will learn how to HIDE elements from a screen, which is handy to know in case you want to reduce the amount of content on your phone screen, for example, to make your have less scrolling.

All students should have the navigation (as well as the about.html, contact.html, and new index.html pages from Wednesday) coded by class on Friday.

The second discusses how to position more than 2 elements in a row (as opposed to just having two side by side). This is very handy and I encourage you to try it out with your portfolio items.

If there is anything you are interesting in creating on your page and you think a tutorial for the class would be helpful, please let me know!

If you have any questions, please direct them first to your coding group and then to me, if needed.

The Videos

This video on navigation covers:

0:00: Introduction to navigation
2:00: Getting the nav.css template (see assignment page or code page) and discussing how reset styles work when you have multiple stylesheets styling one html page
4:57: Explaining the navigation code in index.html
7:43: Explaining the navigation code in nav.css
13:35: Adding navigation code to about.html, portfolio.html, and contact.html
18:33: Making edited to the nav.css and main.css to make sure the mobile nav bar doesn’t cover your name
28:35: Adjusting nav bar colors to make them unique for the index.html and inner html page computer views (this is rather advanced coding and is not required, but I wanted to show you how you can make sure page-specific changes)

This video introduces floating three or more boxes (or other elements) in a rows. It covers:

0:00: Introduction
1:00: Thinking about widths of elements inside another box
2:00: Sizing the boxes in percentages
3:00: Calculating the width of the margins
4:55: The CSS and floating left
7:15: The HTML element skeleton
8:10: Writing the HTML5 code in Brackets, including using comments
11:15: Writing the CSS in Brackets
13:05: Making a second row
14:20: Ensuring that the rows and elements are responsive
14:50: Verifying that the figure width is exactly how I want it
15:15: Concluding remarks on margins between rows and if you have more than three elements in a row

F 4/22: Navigation
Project 2 Final Draft Checklist (.pdf)

Week Fourteen: Project 2 Drafts

Assignment for Week 14
Next week we have individual meetings. You can see the meeting schedule on the Readings and Texts page. I also emailed it to you on Friday morning.

For your individual meeting, please have the following completed and ready for me to see:

  • new index.html with three images, one for each screen size, and navigation
  • about.html, with at least your name as <h1> and navigation
  • contact.html, with the form and your name as <h1> and navigation
  • plans for your portfolio items, either on one page or multiple pages, as depicted in some sketches of page layouts
    • you should also try to start implementing those ideas
  • a list of ways you are going to try to implement some new design features

Please also see the Project 2 Final Draft Checklist (.pdf) you can start checking things off.

If you have any questions, please direct them first to your coding group and then to me, if needed.

And don’t forget to complete your Week 13 Story of Learning Weekly Update.

M 4/25: Meeting Individually
Project #2 Rough Draft Due at meeting time
W 4/27: Meeting Individually
F 4/29: Meeting Individually

Week Fifteen: Project 2 Work

M 5/2: Full Class
W 5/4: Full Class
F 5/6: Full Class
Last Class Day of the Semester

Week Sixteen: Open Coding Day(s) and Final Work

Finals Week Open Coding (Updated, 5/4)
Monday 5/9: 9:00 – 12:00
Tuesday 5/10: 10:00 – 12:00, 1:00 – 2:00

Wed 5/11: Project 2 Final Draft and Reflections Due by 11:00pm
Thursday 5/12: Final Story of Learning Due by 11:00pm

Sunday 5/15: Grades Due 

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