Session Date: Monday Feb 06, 2017
Working with Layers
Preparation for this Session
Look at some themes that you might like to work with for your task 2.2 project. You may use your 2.1 project as a start, but you will need to make substantial changes to get the look that you want. You need to decide on which way you want to go.
Therefore, take some time to look over some free templates and decide if see any that you would like to try. Part of your grade will require that your html pages and that your css code will validate. So make sure the theme that you choose does not contain substantial errors that might be difficult to correct.
In this session we will practice building web pages using both html and css.
As you begin to design your website ...
Plan your website
Take a few minutes and decide on a "theme" for the page(s) you are creating. Decide the structure of the site and what images you will need.
You want to consider that the development cycle for web sites has four stages
- The first stage is to develop content and format in tandem
- The second stage is to view the results
- Third, to make repairs as necessary. At this time you will either return to the first step to add content, or go to the fourth step
- Fourth, publish the page
Why do we concern ourselves with design issues?
Jakob Nielsen suggests that we have an absolute need for design standards.
Standards ensure that users
- know what features to expect
- know how these features will look in the interface
- know where to find these features on the site and on the page
- know how to operate each feature to achieve their goal
- don't have to ponder the meaning of unknown design elements
- don't miss important features because they overlook a non-standard design element
- don't get nasty surprises when something doesn't work as expected
You cannot go wrong by following the direction given in the Web Style Guide [linked from every page on the class web site]. But we will review some basic considerations and offer a way to approach the process of designing your web site. The principles are pretty straightforward:
know your audience,
keep it simple,
be fast,
know the rules before you knowingly break them
Define the purpose and the target audience
What is your intent? what is the message you wish to convey, both in text and in feel?
Who are you trying to reach? who is your target audience?
Think about the audience
- tailor your look and your content to appeal to this audience
- consider their needs and their limitations