Week One (01/23 & 25): Introduction

Class Notes

1. Syllabus
2. Internet & WWW Timeline, adapted from The Core of Information Technology, George Mason University
3. The world's first-ever web server
4. Lab Activity - Using a command line interface
5. - - - - -
6. The Internet and TCP/IP

Homework

1. Read As We May Think by Vannevar Bush
2. TCP/IP Tutorial at W3Schools.com

Readings for Next Week

1. Zeldman: Introduction, Chapter 1
2. Shea/Holzschlag: Introduction
3. Separation: The Web Designer’s Dilemma by Michael Cohen at A List Apart

References

1. The original proposal of the WWW
2. Hobbes' Internet Timeline v8.1, by Robert H'obbes' Zakon, Zakon Group LLC
3. Understanding TCP/IP, An overview at Cisco.com
4. Lynx Help for Beginners, by Philip Webb

Week Two: XHTML & CSS - I. Overview

Class Notes

1. Refresher: HTML, XHTML & Validation
2. Lab 02: Validate a page
3. - - - - -
4. CSS Selectors
5. Lab/Homework Assignment 03: Use CSS selectors

Homework

1. Read The Dollars and Sense of Building to Standards by Alan K'necht at Digital Web Magazine
2. Read Fix Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE! by Jeffrey Zeldman at A List Apart
3. Complete the lab/homework assignments

Readings for Next Week

1. Zeldman: Introduction, Chapters 2-3
2. Shea/Holzschlag: Chapter 1
3. CSS Design: Going to Print by Eric Meyer at A List Apart

References

2. How to Read W3C Specs by J. David Eisenberg at A List Apart
3. Fix Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE! by Jeffrey Zeldman at A List Apart

Week Three: The CSS Box Model

Class Notes

1. The CSS Box Model: Positioning Part 1
2. Lab/homework 04: Change a layout
3. - - - - -
4. The CSS Box Model: Positioning Part II
5. Lab/homework 05: Change a layout further

Homework

1. Read: CSS positioning tutorial - the box model explained by Mike Hall at Brainjar.com
2. 2-Col Tableless Layout by Petr Stanícek at wellstyled.com
3. Complete this week's lab/homework exercises

Readings for Next Week

1. Zeldman: Introduction, Chapters 2-3
2. Shea/Holzschlag: Chapter 1
3. Multi-Column Layouts Climb Out of the Box by Alan Pearce at A List Apart
4. CSS Design: Going to Print by Eric Meyer at A List Apart

References

1. CSS Tips and Tricks at W3C
2. Box Model W3C specifications
3. Visual formatting model W3C specifications

Week Four: Layout examples

Class Notes

1. Using CSS to control layout
2. Lab/homework 06:
3. - - - - -

Homework

1. Complete this week's lab/homework exercises

Readings for Next Week

1. Zeldman: Introduction, Chapters 11,12
2. Shea/Holzschlag: Chapter 2

References

• Read: CSS positioning tutorial - the box model explained by Mike Hall at Brainjar.com
• Faux Columns by Dan Cederholm at A List Apart
• 2-Col Tableless Layout by Petr Stanícek at wellstyled.com
• Multi-Column Layouts Climb Out of the Box by Alan Pearce at A List Apart

Week Five: Designing Menus

Class Notes

1. Lists and Menus
2. Lab/homework 07: Make some menus (due Thursday)
3. - - - - -
4. Lab/homework 08: Lay out a page (due Tuesday)

Week Six: Typography

Class Notes

1. Typography
2. - - - - -
3. Lab 09 - Create a third style sheet for the wyrd index page. The design is entirely up to you. Also, change the links at the end from a line of text to an ordered list.

Homework

1. Complete this week's lab/homework exercises
2. Read this weeks' readings.

Readings

1. Zeldman: Chapter 13
2. Shea/Holzschlag: Chapter 5
3. Read: The Anatomy of Web Fonts - by Andy Hume at sitepoint.com
4. The Trouble With EM ’n EN (and Other Shady Characters) by Peter K Sheerin at A List Apart
5. Choosing & Using Type by Daniel Will-Harris at will-harris.com

References & Resources

1. CSS 2.1 Specifications: Text at W3C
2. Typetester - Interactively compare fonts for the screen
3. Font Tester - Interactively test different CSS font settings for your text
4. Broswer-safe fonts - Common fonts to all versions of Windows & Mac equivalents

Week Seven: Interlude

Examples, Tips, and Tricks presented by Nicole DeMambro

Midterm Exam

Week Eight: Tables & Frames

Class Notes

1. Tables in XHTML
   Lab 10 - Create a form. Reproduce the Hood Drop-Add form using tables.
2. Frames

Week Nine: Forms

Class Notes

1. Forms in XHTML
2. Lab/homework 11: Create an online form

Readings

1. A Brief History of the Internet: Honey, our little Internet's all grown up and gone GUI on us by Marnie Webb at techsoup.org. (A brief survey of WAIS, Archie, gopher, and others.)
2. Sensible Forms: A Form Usability Checklist by Brian Crescimanno at A List Apart
3. Accessible HTML/XHTML Forms by Ian Lloyd at The Web Standards Project
4. Prettier Accessible Forms by Nick Rigby at A List Apart

References & Resources

1. HTML 4.01 Specifications at the W3C

Week Ten: Web Programming, part I

Class Notes

1. Dynamically generated web pages
2. Unix Shell Scripts and CGI
3. Lab Exercise 12: Create a shell script