WDD 130 is a course offered at Brigham Young University-Idaho that serves as an introduction to web design and development. The course covers the basics of web technology, web design, and development principles. The class uses hands-on activities where students participate in simple web design projects and programming. By completing this course, students will understand the fields of web design and development and will have a good idea of whether or not they want to pursue web design and development as a career.
The course does not require any textbooks, but students are recommended to have a steady internet connection since many of the readings and assignments are online. Students will need to install software required for the course, but all of it can be used for free.
The course outcomes for WDD 130 include demonstrating basic proficiency in using current, valid, and semantic Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) syntax to define the structure and content of a webpage, demonstrating basic proficiency in using current valid Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to style an HTML document, planning, designing, and developing web pages and sites according to best practices of organization and maintainability, discovering and analyzing the web design and development industry as a career path, and working effectively with others by communicating clearly, collaborating as a team member, fulfilling assignments, and meeting deadlines.
The major assignment in WDD 130 is the final project, which is worth 40% of the grade. The final project consists of two primary phases. The first phase is the design of a complete 3-page website on a topic of the student’s choosing, which will be organized and submitted in a detailed site plan. The second phase is the construction of the website in HTML and CSS.
Weekly patterns in the course include midweek preparation materials and quizzes, practice activities for pondering, and end-of-week graded application activities for proving knowledge and skills. The course is delivered through the Learning Model, which includes the Prepare phase delivered through preparation material and the Ponder and Prove phases measured through the weekly application activities.
Expectations for the course include spending approximately 4-6 hours each week on homework, pacing oneself, and setting aside time throughout the week to complete assignments. Group work is not required in this course, and late work is penalized at a rate of 5% of the grade per day it is late. Homework is due weekly and builds off of each other, so it is crucial not to fall behind. All activity instructions and assignments can be found on Ilearn, where students can submit assignments, check their progress, and see feedback from the instructor.
The final website project for the course requires a statement of purpose and goals, definition of audience, specific content (text and images) for each page, a style guide, branding information, typography choices and justification, color palette, specific styling of elements on the site (headings, lists, paragraphs, forms, links, buttons, etc.), a site map, and wireframes showing the general layout for each page. The website must consist of a home page and at least two child pages and must be hosted on the web.