Session 1 [Wed 060110] - Welcome to Web One for Winter 2010/ Course Outline/ Making The Planning Sheet Template

Welcome to the course web log for Web One. This is the place where you can catch up with any important information you may have missed along the way. It is by no means comprehensive, so don't rely on it over your own copious notes.

Homework First
Each blog entry begins with a reminder of the homework allocated in the session. Please note that homework is officially set at four hours per each two hour class session. With three courses a week of classes and their accompanying homeworks you will have completed a standard working week [without pay ;-) ].

Your first homework is to -

1. brainstorm onto your brand new planning sheets the subjects and ideas you are considering for this term's website. Expand those minds and be sure to impress next time.
2. Find two websites that you like/don't like. Book mark them in Safari for easy retrieval before next session

Oh, and don't forget to download and peruse the syllabus, your lives may depend on it.

Course Outline
So, as you learnt today, this course is a study of Web Standards based site creation. [It is not a Flash course]. This allows you to focus on your graphics skills and how they apply to web design.

This session you received a breakdown of the current standards for building a web page/site. There are three layers of site construction to consider -

1. The Structural Layer - using HTML [More specifically XHTML (Extensible) Hyper Text Markup Language] for meaningful/semantic page structure and hierarchy, also catering for accessibility issues
2. The Presentation Layer - Incorporating CSS [Cascading Style Sheets] for design and styling. [Check the design biased CSS Zen Garden site and book [available in the library] to learn more about this particular technology]
3. The Behavioural Layer - using Javascript to create interactivity.

Planning Sheet
All paper based work that you make this term will be handed in on or attached to an A3 sized planning sheet branded with your name, contact info [telephone/email probably] and with spaces to enter the date and project title [example below/ click image to enlarge].

You can make your sheet template in InDesign or Illustrator and print one to photocopy multiple times as you need more.