Level 3 Diploma in Web Design

The Diploma in Web Design is split into two separate courses and will take you from being a novice to an advanced web designer:

• OCN Level 2 - WEBMASTER™ Web design training course
• OCN Level 3 - WEBMAESTRO™ Advanced Website Design course

The courses have gained national certification through the leading credit-based awarding body in the UK the National Open College Network.

The WEBMASTER™ web design training course takes the student step-by-step through the construction of a complete website from the very basics of Website design teaching the HTML/XHTML languages, to the uploading of the Website to your web space.

During the course, the student will enjoy the creative experience of developing multi-media web pages and will also learn to use specialised products such as Adobe Flash and Dreamweaver CS3, gradually building on the experience and ultimately designing and creating a high quality professional website of their own.

Using innovative, interactive, multi-media CBT techniques and supported by a personal course tutor, the course is self-paced with no time pressure for completion; the student simply studies at home or at work when time permits.

On successful completion of the course you will receive our own Webmaster Diploma with comprehensive feedback as well as the Nationally Recognised OCN Level 2 award. The training programme consists of 10 interactive lessons, provided on DVD ROM, each of which is divided into a number of related topics. The student is able to easily navigate between lessons and topics, and bookmarks can be inserted to facilitate the resumption of the programme from the previous exit point.

Each topic terminates with a quiz, consisting, typically, of questions with multiple-choice answers to ensure a thorough understanding of the course content, and a specific assignment to put the skills into practice. A template of the fictional SuperNova corporate Website is included as a guide on how to design your own Website.

The following topics are covered by this Unit: Getting started; Health & safety considerations, Course content - Unit by Unit, and training tips; How to navigate through the training programme; Technical support help desk; and Qualifications.

This Unit introduces you to the Internet and World Wide Web and, in particular, to the Supernova website on which the course is largely based. The following topics are covered in this Unit: An introduction to the Internet; Using electronic mail; The SuperNova web design services website; An introduction to HTML/XHTML; and Assignment 1 ? Building a simple web page.

This Unit provides you with a "crash" course in HTML/XHTML. During this Unit you will be introduced to all of the major groups of HTML/XHTML tags. The following topics are covered: Introducing HTML/XHTML; Text formatting tags; Hypertext links and anchors; Creating lists in HTML/XHTML; Making forms in HTML/XHTML; Using tables and frames; Using Graphics and images; and Assignment 2 - HTML/XHTML coding exercise.

During this Unit you will focus on the HTML/XHTML text formatting tags and learn the basics about graphic design, to start building your first web page. The following topics are covered: Inspect the Supernova homepage and look at the code in detail; Review of document, meta and formatting tags; Produce your own graphics using graphics editors; Paint Shop Pro Tutorial; Cascading Style Sheets; and Assignment 3 - Building your own home page.

In this Unit, you will inspect the Supernova page, which describes the company background and history. These Web pages can be used for a company profile or for further information about a chosen topic/hobby. The following topics are covered in this Unit: Look at the SuperNova Information page and the underlying HTML/XHTML code in detail; A review of image, list and font tags; Producing your own imagemaps using MapEdit software; and Assignment 4 - Building your own Information Pages.

In this Unit, you will inspect the Supernova Products and Services page. This can be used as a product and services page or for further information about a chosen topic/hobby. The following topics are covered in the Unit: Inspect the Supernova Products and Services pages HTML/XHTML code in detail; Discuss Uniform Resource Locators (URL?s); A review of hypertext links, anchors and tables; and Assignment 5: Build your own Products and Services or a further Information Page.

In this Unit, you will inspect the Supernova Contact Details page, which contains contact information for visitors. The following topics are covered in this Unit: Inspect the Supernova Contact Details page; Review of the tag; Verifying and debugging your HTML/XHTML code; and Assignment 6: Build your own Contact Details page.

Early implementation of the HTML/XHTML specifications have been significantly extended to allow today's new breed of web designers to become more creative. This Unit demonstrates how you can use standard HTML/XHTML tags to implement stunning special effects without the need for complicated scripting or programming. The following topics are covered by this Unit: Creating animated images and other effects; Utilising tables for structure and colour; Weave some magic using frames!; Insert colour and graphics using forms; Creating, controlling and positioning windows; Using meta tags to create a slide show; Incorporating music into your web pages; and Assignment 7 ?Adding special effects to your pages.

Following from the previous Unit when you learned some neat tricks using basic HTML/XHTML tags, this Unit takes you a step further by introducing you to a new a new language, JavaScript. The following topics are covered in this Unit: An Introduction to JavaScript; The OnLoad Event; The OnClick Event; The onMouseOver and onMouseOut Event; Displaying Messages Using the OnLoad Event; Creating a random advertising display; and Assignment 8 - Incorporating JavaScript into your web pages.

This Unit looks at how you can use off-the-shelf packages to create an effective on-line store. In this Unit, the following will be covered: About ShopFactory; ShopFactory Tutorial; Creating and integrating an on-line store using ShopFactory; and Assignment 9 ? Create and integrate the on-line store into your website.

This Unit introduces you to Adobe Flash CS3 and gives a quick tutorial on how to use this remarkable web designer's tool. It also provides an introduction to Dreamweaver CS3, a leading HTML/XHTML editor. The following topics are covered in this Unit: A quick Flash CS3 Tutorial; Designing your animated portal; Uploading your website; How to Register with Search Engines; An introduction to Dreamweaver CS3 and Assignment 10 - Integrate your Website Portal.

The WEBMAESTRO™ Advanced Website Design course is a fully supported, self-paced training programme for those wishing to take up a new career as a Web programmer or those who simply wish to be able to build advanced commercial-quality websites.

The WEBMAESTRO™ Course has been designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of JavaScript (an object-based, event-driven Web programming language), which tightly integrates with HTML.

You will also learn about Dynamic HTML and Cascading Style Sheets, which removes many of the constraints that have previously limited the web author's creativity and provides a whole new way to make web pages more interesting for the visitor.

Students are taken step-by-step through the lessons using innovative, interactive, multi-media computer-based training techniques, supported by highly-trained technical support specialists.

The course is self-paced with no time pressure for completion; the student simply studies at home or at work when time permits.

The course consists of 10 individual lessons, which are designed to gradually build up and strengthen your technical knowledge base. Throughout the lessons, interactive exercises have been specially designed to support the student?s learning effort, and multiple-choice quizzes at the end of each lesson serve to ensure a thorough understanding of the course content.

During the training programme, the student is guided through the design and development of a fully-functional website incorporating HTML, JavaScript and Dynamic HTML, and students are encouraged to use their own creativity throughout.

The following topics are covered by this Unit: Getting Started; Health and Safety considerations; Course content Unit-by-Unit and training tips; Navigating through the training programme; Technical support help desk; and Qualifications explained.

This Unit provides you with a background to JavaScript and general programming techniques. By the end of the Unit, you will be able to write your own basic scripts that incorporate event handlers. The following topics are covered in this Unit: A background to JavaScript; An overview to JavaScript; Creating your first script; An introduction to event handlers; Using browsers and compatibility problems; Programming tips; and Assignment 1: Using event handlers.

During this Unit, you will become familiar with the construction of JavaScript components, such as variables, operators and statements. The Unit extends to looking at storing and using data for calculations and basic string manipulation, and provides the fundamentals of JavaScript which will be built upon throughout the remainder of the course. The following topics are covered in this Unit: Using variables, operators, strings (concatenating strings); statements; Using numerical data for basic calculations; Using Strings; An introduction to functions; Storing data using Arrays; and Assignment 2: Exercises based on theory discussed.

This Unit builds upon Unit 2, in which the student will focus on using logic and decision-making to make certain events happen; the student will be introduced to such techniques. The following topics are included: An introduction to decision making; Using looping statements; An overview of common mistakes and errors; and Assignment 3: Exercises using looping statements.

In this Unit you will combine all of the previously discussed issues to create and utilise objects. You will have already used a number of JavaScript objects; however, in this Unit we look at JavaScript's built-in objects. The following topics are covered by this Unit: An introduction to JavaScript objects; Creating & using JavaScript objects; JavaScript built-In objects, properties and methods (the string object, the array object, the math object and the date and time object); and Assignment 4: Building a calculator.

Now that you have looked at JavaScript as an object-based programming language, you can incorporate the theory learnt so far, to develop some truly JavaScript dependent web pages. We have seen that JavaScript is an object-based language, with its own built-in objects; however, the browser is also made up of objects. The following topics are covered: The document object model; Window and document objects; Form objects; Working with windows and frames; and Assignment 5: The Health insurance questionnaire.

To support the concept of using JavaScript to enhance websites and user interactivity, this Unit introduces you to cookies, which refer to the information a web server gives to your browser when first accessed and then shared on each return. The following topics are covered: A background to cookies; Creating and reading cookies; Using cookies for specific applications; and Assignment 6: Create an on-line store using cookies.

Early implementation of the HTML/XHTML specifications have been significantly extended to allow today's new breed of web designers to become more creative in their use of HTML. This Unit demonstrates how you can use standard HTML/XHTML tags to implement stunning special effects without the need for complicated scripting or programming. The following topics are covered by this Unit: Background to Cascading Style Sheets; How Cascading Style Sheets work; Implementing Style Sheets; and Assignment 7 ?Adding special effects to your pages.

In this Unit, we will be looking at the concept of DHTML, a technique to enable designers to create interactive web pages that can be dynamically changed in real time. The following topics are covered by this Unit: How DHTML works; Implementing DHTML; and Assignment 8: Creating drag and drop elements.

In this Unit, we will be looking at the technology used to incorporate external applications into our web pages, for example, textual data, sound and visual imagery. The Unit covers the following topics: Microsoft's ActiveX technology explained; Incorporating textual data into your web pages using notepad; Incorporating audio into your web pages; Incorporating animation into your web page; and Assignment 9: Building a data-aware application.

This final Unit will bring together all the information and techniques discussed throughout the course as well as offering tutorials on using Dreamweaver CS3; Paint Shop Pro; Uploading your website; and Search engine submission. Assignment 10: Design your own fully-functional website.

The WEBM@STER™ course comes with a comprehensive software Library, which includes trial/freeware versions of the following software: Adobe Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks & PhotoShop CS3, Paint Shop Pro, Gif Construction Set, MapEdit, WinZip 11, Shop Factory Pro, Cute FTP and Colour Picker 1.9.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is not compatible with Apple Mac Computers.

All students must per 16 years of age and above.

Students may register at any time and we do not impose any set completion time, although we recommend completing study within a 12 month period per course. You also have access to a personal tutor by mail or email. As the course is self study you can complete in as little or as long a time as you prefer.

You will be assessed on coursework which is detailed in the course materials. The coursework consists of individual web pages and a complete final website. Your work can be sent back to your course tutor by email or by post.

The award is gained from your successfully completed coursework so there is no exam to complete. On successful completion of both course, students will be awarded OCN Level 2 and OCN Level 3 Web Design & Construction Award.

The Level 2 Award is comparable to working at GCSE or NVQ Level 2 and has 6 OCN credits. OCN Credits can be accumulated with other course or unit credits over a period of time which can lead to an accredited qualification. The Level 3 Award is comparable to working at A Level or NVQ Level 3 and has 9 OCN credits. OCN Credits can be accumulated with other course or unit credits over a period of time which can lead to an accredited qualification.

The award is issued through the North West Region (OCNNW) of The National Open College Network. OCNNWR provides validated courses through its provider organisations which must meet robust quality assurance standards. It is a licenced member of NOCN which is an approved UK awarding body licenced by QCA (The Qualifications & Curriculum Authority) to offer accredited qualifications.