DES 204 · 3 credits
Web Design
Foundations of interactive design including page structure, basic information architecture, and component-based interfaces using industry-standard frontend languages. Students learn about WCAG-aligned accessibility, optimize media performance, and preparing web assets to specification.
Prerequisites
Lecture
1
Lab
6
Course Content
- Web foundations: structure, content, presentation; introductory frontend coding
- Semantic organization
- Information architecture
- Responsive layout concepts
- Web typography
- Media for the web (formats, optimization)
- Color and contrast for screens
- Component-based user interface concepts
- Basic interactivity and state behaviors
- Accessibility standards for the web
- Asset export and handoff specifications
- Historical and contemporary references
- Critique
Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate design elements and principles in interactive artifacts. (5,6,8,13)
- Define the structure of a web page. (1)
- Plan basic information architecture with a sitemap. (4)
- Build basic deliverables using industry standard frontend languages. (2)
- Compose interfaces using components with variants. (9,10)
- Use semantic coding principles. (3)
- Develop deliverables through iterative refinement. (14)
- Apply WCAG-aligned accessibility standards. (11)
- Optimize media for web performance. (7)
- Prepare files according to established output specifications. (12)
- Critique peer work using discipline-specific terminology to propose revisions. (14)