Take your web design skills to the next level! Whether you want to work as a freelance web designer, join a web development team, or build websites for your organization, this course will give you the advanced tools you need.
In this course, you will learn to write HTML code for page content and CSS code for page styling. You'll learn the latest versions of the languages used to create modern websites. With the help of step-by-step instructions, you'll build interactive websites that collect information from visitors through email signup and feedback forms. In addition, you'll learn the latest and most effective techniques for presenting layouts and video that work in any browsing environment. Along the way, you'll explore aesthetics, color scheming, and accessibility in web page design.
David Karlins is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books on web design, including "HTML5 for CSS3 for Dummies." His articles have appeared in publications ranging from Macworld to Business Week. He has taught web, graphic, and interactive design at San Francisco State University and in the Extension program at University of California, Berkeley.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
If you want to take your Web pages from okay to "wow," it’s time to move up to Web 2.0. In this lesson, you’ll explore the core elements of advanced Web design: interaction, animation, and page design that’s flexible and accessible to visitors on any device.
Lesson 2
Today, you’ll enter the world of advanced Web design by building your first CSS style sheet. When you’re done, you’ll link this style sheet to an HTML page and discover how you can instantly make changes to that page—or even to a thousand pages at the same time. In addition, you’ll explore some key elements of Web page design.
Lesson 3
Your website text isn’t just a collection of words—it’s also a design element that can tell your visitors what you’re all about! In this lesson, you’ll find out how to specify the appearance of your text using your CSS style sheet. We’ll talk about setting your font size, color, line spacing, alignment, background, borders, margins, and padding.
Lesson 4
Links are a key part of any Web page, and there’s more to designing them than you might think. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to create links that suit the purpose of your site, the technological sophistication of your audience, and the image you want to portray. In addition, we’ll raise that controversial question when it comes to link design: to underline, or not to underline?
Lesson 5
Today, you’ll expand your horizons by learning how to format selected page content. After that, you’ll take a big step into advanced design by discovering how to use class styles to design content boxes. In the process, you’ll learn all about two powerful Web design tools: div tags and span tags.
Lesson 6
Each Web page is unique, but three elements are almost universal: a container, a header, and a footer. In this lesson, you’ll build these three elements by combining a new tool—ID styles—with div tags. In addition, you’ll find out how to embed div tags within containers.
Lesson 7
Today, you’ll take your layout to a new level by adding columns to your Web page. You’ll discover how to place multiple columns on a page, how to pad your columns, and how to create an attractive column layout that’s easy to read. In addition, we’ll make your columns interactive!
Lesson 8
Do you use a mobile device to browse the Web? More and more people do—and to keep them happy, you’ll need to provide mobile-friendly content. But how can you do that, and still design a page that works on a big screen? Today, you’ll find out how to create Web pages that look different, but still great, on both full-sized monitors and mobile devices.
Lesson 9
Web designers always need to be thinking about the future—and that future will include HTML5. In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the advantages of this up-and-coming coding language, and you’ll add HTML5 elements to your own Web page. In addition, you’ll find out which environments currently support HTML5 and which ones don’t.
Lesson 10
A great video can increase your website traffic, sell your products, or even make you a superstar. But here’s the big issue you’ll face as a Web designer: Not all video formats work with all browsers. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to overcome that problem as you master simple tricks for embedding videos that will play in any browsing environment.
Lesson 11
What do you need to know about your website’s visitors—their names, their email addresses, or maybe even how they rate your site? Today, you’ll find out how to collect information like this (and much more) by adding forms to your pages. In these chapters, you’ll build your own form, add form fields, and define where your collected data will go.
Lesson 12
You’ve mastered it all—interactivity, animation, and accessibility—and you’re ready to call yourself an advanced Web designer. Now it’s time to take the next step and reveal your site to the world. Today, you’ll learn how to upload your site to the Web and how to check your spelling, links, accessibility, and browser compatibility. And here’s the great news: You’ll do it all for free!
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