Requirements

Course Policies

  1. Attendance

    Attendance is mandatory at all lectures and discussion sections. Please familiarize yourself with Duke’s policies on Class Attendance and Missed Work. If you need to miss class for a valid reason, please notify your professor and TA in advance.

  2. Technology in the Classroom

    Mobile phones should be turned off and either stowed in your bookbag or placed screen-down on your desk for the duration of class.

    Laptop computers and tablets may be used in the classroom for class-related purposes only.

  3. Student Disability Access Office (SDAO)

    We all learn differently, and I and your TAs will do our best to make sure that there are multiple means of accessing and demonstrating knowledge. We welcome your input on things we can do to make the course materials, our lessons, and the classroom experience more inclusive. If there is an accommodation that could improve your experience in this class, please let me know, or contact SDAO at (919) 668-1267 to ensure that your accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion.

    For accessibility software and other information, check out the Disability Management System site: https://access.duke.edu

  4. Duke Community Standard
    https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/conduct/about-us/duke-community-standard

    Duke University is a community dedicated to scholarship, leadership, and service and to the principles of honesty, fairness, respect, and accountability. Citizens of this community commit to reflect upon and uphold these principles in all academic and nonacademic endeavors, and to protect and promote a culture of integrity.

Grade Distribution

  • Attendance, Labs, and Participation: 30%

    Success in this course hinges upon your consistent skill-building. New material will be presented in lecture and in lab, and you will complete weekly lab assignments that will give you hands-on experience grappling with the concepts and grammar necessary to create modern web pages. Your full participation is required, including attendance in all lectures and lab sessions, as well as participating in the peer support and troubleshooting community on Piazza.

  • Midterm Project: 25%Due: 5:00 PM, Friday, October 18

    The Midterm Project's overall site architecture will be designed in early lab assignments, and its design and layout refined over the first month and 1/2 of the course. The outcome will be a multipage HTML5 website with CSS layout and design that introduces the student to the class and serves as an archive of lab assignments that will be completed throughout the semester. The Midterm Project will, by the end of the term, also link to the student's final project proposal, final project itself, as well as accompanying documentation / post-project reflection.

  • Final Project Proposal: 10%Due: 3:05 PM, Monday, October 28

    Following the completion of the Midterm Project, students are expected to formulate a proposal outlining their intentions and aspirations for a Final Project site. Proposals will include: a description of and rationale for the site's genre; a collection of URLs that provide inspiration for content or design; wireframes for page mockup; proposed color palette; and description of multimedia and interactive elements. Proposal should also identify two or more “reach goals.“

  • Final Project: 35%Due: 12:00 PM, Wednesday, December 11

    The final project for the course is an accessible, interactive website that uses valid HTML, CSS, and Javascript of a genre (design portfolio, web documentary, webXR experience, interactive storytelling, or a company, product, hobby, thesis, or project website) and aesthetic of the student's choice, in consultation with and with approval of lab instructors. Final projects will be accompanied by a one-page site self-assessment / post-mortem reflection.

The software recommended for the course is either freely available to all or free to you as a Duke student. We will use:

  • Chrome or Firefox web browser — Sorry diehard Safari or Internet Explore/Edge fans . . .

  • Brackets, a text editor designed for web development and available for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems. [But yes, you can use your text editor or IDE (integrated development environment) of choice here. But there are some nifty features in Brackets that you may find useful and time-saving.]

  • FileZilla, a file transfer program for uploading your files to a web server. If you have a preferred alternative, it must support SFTP. Note: Please download FileZilla directly from the link above. Downloading from the FileZilla homepage or “download” menu link unfortunately defaults to a “sponsored” download that includes adware/bloatware. Yuck!

  • Github Desktop - This is highly recommended if you are new to Git, but those with experience may prefer a different Git GUI or using Git via command line. [Wait a minute….What the heck is Git and Github?? No worries, we’ll discuss everything in class, but this article offers a concise and clear explanation: Brandon Morelli's “New Developer? You Should've Learned Git Yesterday” ]

  • Adobe Creative Cloud (optional) - All Duke students are eligible for a free subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud through the OIT Software portal. It is also available in the OIT Multimedia Project Studio (MPS) which is staffed with student consultants.