DIG 4104c – Spring 2013
Web Design Workshop – Moshell
Course Plan
What's the difference in a Course Plan and a Syllabus?
The Syllabus is the legally required "nuts and bolts" document. Let's walk through it
now.
This Course Plan is a free-form description of what I want for you to accomplish in
this semester.
It's simple: five things.
1) Acquire and demonstrate mastery of one of a select (but expandible) list of
state-of-the-art web production tools.
2) Acquire and demonstrate mastery of the git version control system.
3) Learn about and demonstrate your understanding of the key issues
associated with building accessible websites.
4) Build a kick-a** portfolio piece, to get yourself a great job.
5) Give a ten minute talk about either a website that has exemplary
accessibility, or an innovative website production tool. These will in general
NOT be the tools from (1) above, for reasons that will soon become apparent.
Because UCF has rules about exams, we must have midterm and final exams. In
order to generate subject matter for these exams, I will provide lectures from which
the midterm material is drawn; and YOU will provide lectures from which I will pull
questions for the final exam.
TOOLS
During the Fall 2013 Web Design Workshop, a series of talks were given that
highlighted some leading-edge productivity tools for website construction. Your
team is required to select and actively use ONE OR MORE of the following tools for
your Project2 and Project3. OR – you may propose (and receive approval for) one or
more additional tools, so as to expand your skill-set.
I recommend that you select a tool that you are not already familiar with – in order
to learn new and useful information. Lazy people get lousy jobs. You want fries with
that?
Foundation – a responsive framework
SASS – an alternative for CSS
LESS – another alternative for CSS
Google Maps Javascript API
Angular.JS
Adobe Edge Animate
HTML5 Canvas, SVG or Video or Audio extensions
GIT
Those of you who already had Web Design Workshop have been exposed to git.
About half the teams actually used it; the other half just "paid lip service". If your
team includes no veterans, now's the time to 'git ahold of this know-how'!
It's always your choice as to whether to learn things or not ... but guess which ones
get the best recommendation letters, and jobs???
TALKS
During the second half of this course, the Wednesday lectures will be provided by
you. The topics concern web and media design for accessibility. This means that 51
or more talks will occur during 10 hours; or 5 to 6 talks per hour. Therefore, you
will need to prepare ten minutes of material.
Contents: two categories. (a) examples and demonstrations of innovative features
that enhance the accessibility of websites and interactive media; and (b) innovative
website production and management tools.
HOWEVER – since over half of the class are repeating the workshop, you may not
talk about a topic that was covered in Fall 2013 Web Design Workshop. A list of
those topics is available on the course website.
Presentation: Your talk will be delivered in the form of a Powerpoint presentation.
If you love Prezi or other formats, that's fine ... but for THIS class, you still have to
present a Powerpoint presentation. I've found that most Prezi talks are truly lousy;
dominated by flashy and distracting animations, with little attention paid to
conveying the useful information.


bulleted lists, not full-sentences
you WILL lose points if you read the slides to us. We can do that!
Your Powerpoint must be mailed to me within 24 hours after your talk, with the
subject heading "DIG 4104c Presentation".
Demonstration: A-level results almost always involve a demo that you yourself
designed, using the tool (if your talk is about a tool.) B-level results can be had by
showing some pre-built demonstration from the system's makers. If you just want a
C, then just talk about the system with no actual demos.
If you are presenting a talk about an accessibility feature or a particularly good
website, then you should attempt to use the feature in a "hello world" website of
your own construction. If this is not possible, AT LEAST be prepared to demonstrate
the actual website about which you are speaking.
The Final Exam will be drawn from the contents of these 50 talks.
TEAMS
If you are taking this Workshop for the first time, I recommend that you try to find a
veteran (from the Fall workshop) to lead your team. They already (should) know
how git works. A team of three people can build a really impressive website.
If you would prefer, you can work as a two-person team. I find that two-person
teams can be highly effective. However, if your teammate drops out, you're stuck
doing all the work. So a three-person team has that advantage.
Your team's work will largely be done in the labs, which meet on Mondays.
Attendance in the labs is required and counts toward your final grade.
Lab Time is Team Time. I have observed that many students consider the lab as
"social time" rather than work time. Your time is too valuable to waste in this
fashion; so let's try to spend those hours in the most productive way that you can.
Do the work – then you won't have to fool with homework!
AND NOW ... form up into teams. Exchange email, phone and physical addresses (so
you can drag your team-mate out of bed on Monday mornings.) Choose a Team
Name. Write down all this information and give it to me.
Then – start brainstorming among yourselves about what major project you want to
work on, for the semester. Here are the criteria:

Your website should be as interactive as possible. People should be able
to add information to the site. This may lead you to use some kind of CMS,
but it will require that you have some kind of back-end system – build
your own, use a CMS, or find another solution.

Your website MUST be compliant with the W3C standards for
accessibility, which we will be studying in the next few weeks. This means
in particular that it is accessible to blind people using a website reader;
and to physically disabled people with limited ability to move a mouse.

Within these constraints, your goal is to identify a USER COMMUNITY
who would benefit from your website, and then identify a KEY NEED of
that community.
*HINT --> You will get far more "portfolio mileage" out of your site, if you
identify an adult user community who resemble, in some way, your Future
Employers. Here are some typical adult communities:
>> parents of small children
>> owners of vintage automobiles
>> gardeners
>> business-people looking for specific tools or resources
>> landscaping services and their clients
>> retired people
>> disabled people
Here are some typical "student oriented" sites that I see students building
over and over, and which fairly reek of limited/juvenile perspective (so let's
avoid these, if possible:)
>> dating services
>> musical performance and entertainment venues
>> guides to bars and restaurants
>> guides to cheap sources of beer
You don't have to finally decide on a theme today ... but it would be a good idea to
narrow down your topic to three or four possibilities, and to spend some time
surfing the web to look for comparable/competitive sites. I would like for your to
finalize your choice of themes by 27 January.
NOTE: Part of your Design Presentation at mid-semester will be a competitive
analysis. If you can find those competitors, up front, (or better – if your idea is so
unique that there are no competitors), you can swipe or emulate their best features
and improve on their weaknesses.