Intermediate Web Development

Summary

The final project for Intermediate Web Development required the development of a 5-page website that demonstrated the skills learned throughout the course. The website required the use of cascading style sheets (CSS) and two JavaScript applications. Website design guidelines and principles including the concepts of usability, accessibility, visual components of the layout and arrangement of the web pages.

Artifact

Website – esssFit

Process

Determining the content/subject of the website was the first step in this process. I chose to develop a website for my son’s fledgling personal training business. This required interviewing him to glean his expectations of aesthetics and information he wanted to disseminate. We initially designed the website using a storyboard approach. The storyboard was helpful in documenting specific element of the style, particularly html color codes.

The next step was to prepare the elements that would be used on the site. Most photos were obtained from creativecommons.org. Videos for temporary use were selected from his favorite YouTube channels until he produced his own. Scripts were written to disseminate information regarding the subject of each page.

The photos used on the landing page’s carousel needed to be consistently sized and transformed to black and white images. Lightbox images were sized in thumbnail and final image sizes. I used Adobe Photoshop to manipulate the images.

Then the coding began. After several iterations, I presented the website for feedback. A few of the design elements were changed, reflecting the preferences of the personal trainer.

Reflection

I took this opportunity to develop a website for a personal training business my son is starting. I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to gain a bit of experience with online marketing as well as give me the opportunity to practice coding skills by developing a template for what he may use in the future.

The steps necessary to complete this website required many more skills than just coding. I used elements of many of my core courses to develop the content of the website. The objectives of the website and the expectations of the content of the website required input. Digital media skills were used for design components of the website.

This website was developed for someone else, so his needs and desired outcome of the website had to be taken into consideration. There were a couple of times we disagreed on a design element, wording on a page’s narrative. Even the name of the website was debated. However, I was the website developer and he was the client, so there were times I had to defer to him. We agreed split responsibilities (and consequences) of the disagreements. I would make final decisions on design elements, he would make the final decisions on content. This reinforced the need to respect differences and know when to compromise; important behaviors of being part of a team.