Midterm assignment for Web Technology
Assessment specification: 001 - Website proposal [minor update on 9 Nov]
Completion requirements
001 Website proposal (report and mock-up)
In this first assignment, you will design and code a small static website mock-up using only HTML and CSS, accompanied by a short report. The aim is to give you confidence and fluency in the core web technologies before moving on to more advanced tools in Assignment 2.
The website theme can be in any area relevant to your MA/MSc (Digital Humanities, digital marketing, creative industries, etc.). While you are encouraged to design a new website, you can also propose a radical re-design of an existing website, justifying how your new design and new content are superior. Valid website themes include:
Creating digital assets that support research in a relevant discipline (e.g. literary studies, history, music studies, linguistics, archaeology, philosophy, performing arts, etc.);
Promoting and disseminating humanities research as well as humanities and art assets in digital ways;
Presenting and promoting online cultural products and experiences;
Creating a digital environment that produces new knowledge in humanities disciplines;
Producing new research areas and interactive possibilities for existing research and artefacts;
Producing new artefacts and new research concepts through digital media and technologies.
This proposal will be the basis for the end-term assignment (002). Note that you are free (and encouraged) to change and update the details of this proposal as you work towards 002.
Note: This assessment includes material covered up to week 6 (included). Weeks 7 and 8 are not included in the assessment.
Part 1a. Report (800-900 words, excluding references and plagiarism statement). It should address the following aspects of the project:
· Introduction and purpose. Present the concept, aims, target audience, and relevance of your website.
· Content and design. How is your website structured? What is of primary and secondary importance? What are your content sources (include academic sources if relevant)? How do you plan to produce text, images, and other media? Do you need access to copyrighted material? Briefly present your choices of layout, colour, fonts, and visual style. Embed your mock-up pages as figures. Specify how you handle copyright issues.
· Competition analysis. Conduct an audit of similar websites and critically discuss two relevant examples. What can you learn from these examples? What is the added value of your proposal compared to them?
· References. Include at least five academic or technical sources about the website design and the content (e.g. books, journal articles, manuals, blogs, official documentation).
· AI statement. If you use generative AI tools (e.g., large language models, translation tools, image generators), disclose and reflect on their use and limitations (max 200 words). See AI guidance on Keats.
Part 1b. HTML/CSS mock-up. This is a static website using semantic HTML5 and modern CSS:
· It should include 2 to 3 pages to illustrate your design.
· Focus on information architecture, typography, colours, page structure, layouts.
· It should include some text content, some images, a header, footer, and a navigation bar.
· The site does not need to be complete or fully functional: it is a mock-up that demonstrates structure, layout, and design choices rather than a finished product.
· The use of JavaScript. frameworks is optional.
· Validate your HTML pages and CSS sheets with tools like https://html-validate.org
· Deliverable: a website folder with HTML and CSS files and other assets.
Marking criteria
The assessment will be evaluated according to:
· Coding quality: accuracy and clarity of HTML/CSS code.
· Design quality: visual style. (typography, colour, imagery); effective layout; clarity of navigation; user experience.
· Website theme & content: relevance and originality of chosen theme; content quality; clarity of purpose and target audience; information architecture.
Submission instructions
The two parts need to be uploaded through the same submission link.
The report 1a should be in Word or PDF format and called ‘report_<student_code>.docx’ or ‘report_<student_code>.pdf’ (e.g., report_AB2305.docx). Include the coversheet with the proposal in one document. The report should contain academic references (articles, books, online sources).
All the mock-up 1b files (including all project files) should be submitted as a zip file named ‘mockup_<student_code>.zip’ (e.g., mockup_AB2305.zip). Note that submissions are strictly anonymous, so do not include your name in any part of the submission. To facilitate marking, re-include the coversheet and the report in the zip file. Do not use other compression formats (e.g. 7z, rar).
An incorrect submission format will result in a penalty of 10 points.