University of South Florida

Note: Be sure you have the required knowledge/skills before enrolling in this course.

Do NOT take this course if you do not know basic HTML commands. This is a Web Design course -- you will be creating several Web pages, and you will be altering the code in other webpages to illustrate design techniques.

If you don't know basic HTML, take this course after you take EME6936:Interactive Media or EME6936: Internet in Education (or teach yourself HTML). This is NOT a programming course. If you are interested in learning more about Web programming (such as JavaScript), you should take EME6930: Web Programming 1, you should take EME6930: Flash.

In addition to knowing basic HTML, you should be familiar with (and have access to) a Web creation program, such as DreamWeaver for this course. DreamWeaver can be purchased at the USF bookstore.

These are a few of the skills you will need to succeed in this class:

• Be able to upload webpages to the web server (such as USF or Content Collection) and ensure that everyone in this class (or all of the "public") can access your websites.
• Be able to modify webpages on the server and add or delete links as the course progresses.
• Be able to modify the paths to images, etc. in your webpages. In other words, if you create a webpage on your harddrive and then upload it to a webserver, the paths to your images may still be going to your harddrive. You need to be able to correct this by uploading your images and changes the paths.
• Be able to use a web editor, such as DreamWeaver. If you are a major in Instructional Technology, you should definitely challenge yourself to learn DreamWeaver, the industry leader. If you are not an IT major, and want to use a different editor (that allows you to change the HTML at the code level), that's fine.
• Be able to use a text editor (such as NotePad) to create a simple HTML page by "hand." We will be using text editors to create CSS stylesheets as well as an XHTML page in this course.

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This course focuses on the design of instructional and informational web sites. Topics include writing for the web, design of visual elements, usability issues, interactivity, multimedia, accessibility, globalization, and marketing. Students will evaluate websites, create and alter web pages, and conduct usability studies.

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Course Materials

Web Style Guide by Lynch & Horton at http://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/index.html

Nielsen, J. (2006) Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. (0-321-35031-6)

Course Objectives

• Describe the characteristics of various approaches/strategies employed on websites
• Optimize graphics and text for web delivery
• Recognize effective techniques for web navigation
• Implement effective visual elements into webpage design
• Employ appropriate writing style for web delivery
• Design a website using a web template
• Implement techniques to create a website that is accessible to all users
• Design a website that is appropriate for a global audience
• Recognize technical issues related to multimedia delivery on the web
• Research information related to web design
• Create a marketing report that outlines recommendations for optimizing the a website for the search engines
• Conduct a usability study for a website and write a usability report
• Evaluate web-based training and e-learning sites

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You can register for this course as a degree-seeking student, a non-degree, or certificate seeking student**.  In other words, if you are taking the course for recertification, you might not be in a "formal" degree program.  In that case, you can register as a non-degree seeking student.  Visit the USF Registrar's page and click on Non-Degree Student Admission.  If, at a later date, you decide to enter a degree program, you will be able to use two of the courses that you took as a non-degree seeker.

This course is a requirement for the Distance Education Graduate Certificate and the Web Design Graduate Certificate, which is endorsed by the Florida Virtual School for preferential hiring for open instructional designer positions.

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EVALUATION

The evaluation for EME 6936: Web Design is based on assignments and quizzes related to 8 activities.

Class Activities (70%) -- The class activities include a variety of assignments related to designing and evaluating websites. There are a series of eight activities. Each of these activities contains one or more evaluation products to be completed by the student. Products include postings to the discussion board, creation or modification of webpages, documents submitted to the instructor, etc.

Objective Quizzes (20%) -- Objective quizzes will be administered via Blackboard. Students will have two opportunities to take the quiz related to each content area.

Final Project (10%) -- The final project consists of working with a "client" to create a prototype for a website, implementing all of the design guidelines included in the course.

No incompletes will be awarded without extenuating, documented circumstances, such as death in the family or extended illness. If you request an Incomplete you will be assigned the grade that you have currently earned, which will be updated when you complete the requirements of the course. If you do not update this grade within the specified time period, you will automatically be assigned this grade. If you believe that there is a possibility that you may not be able to complete the requirements and your current grade is not acceptable, then you should officially withdraw from the course. Please see the USF Graduate School's policy for Incomplete Grades.

If you decide to drop this course, please be sure to officially withdraw -- otherwise you will receive a grade (probably an F) for the course. Remember, there is no grade forgiveness at the graduate level.

Grade	%
A	90-100
B	80-89
C	70-79
D	60-70

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The course is conducted entirely through the Web; however, students are encouraged to make appointments for individual assistance on campus, if necessary.

The activities are based on the following topics:

Activity 1 -- Introduction, Website Purposes & Features

Activity 2 -- Website Design and Cascading Style Sheets

Activity 3 -- Navigation and External CSS

Activity 4 -- Visual Elements

Activity 5 -- Usability

Activity 6 -- Accessibility and Marketing

Activity 7 -- Creating Interactivity and Quizzes

Activity 8 -- Multimedia and Technical Issues

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Mandatory First Day Attendance: USF requires that all students attend the first day of class. Students who do not attend the first day may be dropped from the class. Their seats may be taken by other students, or they may need to reregister and pay the late fee. Distance-learning students must log into Blackboard and begin an activity to designate their intention to remain in the course.

ADA Statement: Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with the Office of Student Disabilities Services in order to receive special accommodations and services.  Students are required to give reasonable notice (typically 5 working days) prior to requesting an accommodation.  A letter from the USF Disability Services Office must accompany this request.

USF Policy on Religious Observances: Students who anticipate the necessity of being absent from class due to the observation of a major religious observance must provide notice of the date(s) to the instructor, in writing, by the second class meeting.

Academic Integrity: Consequences for academic dishonesty will depend on the seriousness of the offense and may include receipt of an “F” with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the “F” shall be used to determine the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to assign the student a grade of F or FF (the latter indicating dishonesty) in the course.

Plagiarism is defined as "literary theft" and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published text or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text. On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, or oral sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally known to the public-at-large, must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Citations may be made in footnotes or within the body of the text. Plagiarism also consists of passing off as one's own, segments or the total of another person's work. Plagiarism also pertains to multimedia. The Fraud of Plagiarism tutorial is located at http://www.cte.usf.edu/plagiarism/plag.html.

Detection of Plagiarism: Blackboard includes an automated plagiarism detection service that allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit assignments to the plagiarism deletion tool.

In order to comply with federal (FERPA) and state privacy laws, you (students) are not required to include personal identifying information such as your name, SSN, and/or U# in the body of the work (text) or use such information in the file naming convention prior to submitting. Please follow carefully your instructor’s instructions regarding what identifying information to include. Your submission will be placed in the course grade center in your account that can be accessed by the instructor.

Withdrawal from Course: If you decide to drop this course, please be sure to officially withdraw -- otherwise you will receive a grade (probably an F) for the course. Remember, there is no grade forgiveness at the graduate level. Please see the USF Graduate School's policy for Dropping Courses and use their form.

Incomplete Grade: No incomplete grades will be awarded without extenuating, documented circumstances, such as death in the family or extended illness. If you request an Incomplete you will be assigned the grade that you have currently earned, which will be updated when you complete the requirements of the course. If you do not update this grade within the specified time period, you will automatically be assigned this grade. If you believe that there is a possibility that you may not be able to complete the requirements and your current grade is not acceptable, then you should officially withdraw from the course. Please see the USF Graduate School's policy for Incomplete Grades and use their form.

Emergency Procedures: In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It's the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information.

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You will access the course materials and submit assignments via the USF Blackboard Portal. It is ESSENTIAL that you obtain access to Blackboard (which requires a USFCard).  The USFCard identifies you as a University of South Florida student. Distance learning students can use their USFCard to check out materials from the USF Library; to acquire a USF e-mail address; to gain entry to USF athletic events and campus recreation facilities; to gain student discounts to movie theaters and restaurants; and much more.

To obtain a USF Card and a NetID (http://www.it.usf.edu/services/netid) follow these steps immediately.

1. Obtain a USF Card (information at http://it.usf.edu/services/usfcard/faqs)
   Or, if you are a distance learning student, use the online form at https://diablo.forest.usf.edu/ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=26&CATID=495
2. Activate you NetID https://netid.usf.edu/una/
3. Use your NetID to sign into MyUSF and Blackboard (Click on the Courses tab after you sign in)

Every newly enrolled USF student receives an official USF e-mail account that ends with "mail.usf.edu." You can access this account when you log into Blackboard on the Welcome page of the Learn.USF tab. Click on the Google email icon in the top right panel. If you don't see this panel, then click on the Add Module button at the top of the page and then select the check box for My Google Apps @ USF .

Every official USF correspondence to students will be sent to that account.

If you regularly use a different account, you can set up e-mail forwarding on your USF e-mail account. The following link will send you to a tutorial on how to set this up. Once you set it up you will not have to do this again, unless you want to change the account to which you are forwarding your USF mail.

1. Log into Blackboard
2. Click on the Google email icon
3. Log in with your USF netID
4. Select Settings at the top of the page
5. Select Forwarding and POP/IMAP at the top of the page
6. Select the radio button for Forward a copy of incoming mail to and type in the address of the account you want your e-mail forwarded

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