Web Design

English 401
Intended for 24 undergraduate students
Fall 2023 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territories
M and Th, 1 - 2:20pm
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him)
Office hours: M and Th, 11:30am - 12:30pm, in CLE D331
jentery@uvic.ca

View this document in PDF (document dated 8 September 2023).

This syllabus is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Contents:

• Territory Acknowledgement
• Description
• Goals
• About Me
• Materials
• Assignments
• Workload
• Schedule
• Policies

Territory Acknowledgement

As a researcher and instructor at the University of Victoria, I acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the University stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. I’m a settler scholar at UVic, and I arrived here as an uninvited guest in July 2011.

The fact that we’re gathering here to study web design in a UVic English course is a product of colonization and injustice upon local lands, waters, and people. I am still learning about the past and present of such injustices, and I will make no assumptions about you or your knowledge of these lands. As part of this course, I invite ongoing dialogue about territory acknowledgements and how UVic students, faculty, and staff are building good relations and fostering reciprocity. I’ve learned a lot about territory acknowledgements from the Native Students Union’s webpage as well as this August 2019 episode of U in the Ring: “With Knowledge Comes Responsibility: Territory Acknowledgements,” featuring Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel, Maggie Easton, Steven Farina, Robbie Lewis, Qwul’sih’yah’maht Robina Thomas, and Kolin Sutherland-Wilson. I welcome your recommendations, too.

Description

I will teach you how to produce accessible websites in HTML and CSS without the need for databases or content management systems. You’ll learn a basic vocabulary for web design alongside many techniques involved in publishing your own content. You’ll work on a series of exercises and projects that will develop your knowledge as a writer and web designer, and ultimately you’ll create two simple websites. Roughly 60% of the course material will be grounded in style (CSS), encoding (HTML), and publishing, with the other 40% dedicated to composing compelling content you want to see in the world. Throughout the course, we’ll combine an awareness of values in design with attention to the technical particulars of web development.

All class sessions will be held in a Mac computer lab. I will assume you’ve never taken a course on web design or publishing (including HTML and CSS) and that you’ve never made your own website.

Goals

I designed this course for you to:

1. Build a vocabulary for approaching web design as a mode of communication that’s shaped by culture. This means we’ll foreground community and values in web design and treat it as a form of inquiry involving routine feedback and plenty of trial and error.
2. Learn methods for understanding how websites are made, what they do, and how they are maintained. This means we’ll focus on the labour and activity of web design as well as standards for building and rendering persistent content.
3. Articulate the difference between a) composing compelling content that matters to you and your communities and b) producing content for the sake of circulating it. This means we will attend to the roles of genre, medium, format, and audience in your design decisions.
4. Create and publish two simple websites, one individually and another collaboratively. This means you’ll have opportunities to compose content across a spectrum of needs and contexts. We’ll also simulate what it’s like to create websites as a small team for a community or organization.
5. Document, describe, and reflect on the creation of these two websites. This means you’ll define your key terms, track your changes, communicate the significance of those changes, and speak to the style, substance, and accessibility of your websites.

About Me

My name is Jentery Sayers (he / him). I skip a syllable and say it in two: “JEN-tree.” You can call me Jentery, Doctor Sayers, or Professor Sayers. I spend 15.16% of the day looking for my glasses, and I enjoy writing about games and media. I grew up in Richmond, Virginia and went to Virginia Commonwealth University for my BA and BS degrees. Then I moved to Seattle, where I received an MA and PhD in English from the University of Washington. Now I teach courses for UVic English, Media Studies, and Professional Communication, and I’m the acting director of Media Studies.

I’ve developed websites for the Universities of Washington and Victoria, including a redesign for UW’s Undergraduate Research Program and the launch of UVic’s Maker Lab in the Humanities. I oversee the website for UVic Media Studies and maintain a portfolio built in Jekyll (no database, no CMS, no ads). I’ve experience with Ruby, Python, Unity, Jira, WordPress, Squarespace, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, Premiere, Audition, Audacity, iMovie, Cascade, Sublime, Brackets, and dozens of sites lost to rebrands, neglect, bloat, hacks, and technical mystery. I’m grateful for the Wayback Machine and Pandoc, and I write in Visual Studio Code, Markdown, HTML, and CSS with Git, GitHub, and Jekyll. My knowledge of JavaScript is beyond rusty at this point. Apologies in advance for not including JavaScript in this course.

You can email me at jentery@uvic.ca or find me in Clearihue D331.

Materials

You do not need to purchase a textbook for this course, but you will need access to a computer, the internet (including Brightspace), a camera, a text editor, and an SFTP (file transfer) client. You’re welcome to use your own laptop, a computer in the lab, or both.

I will point you to open-access readings, resources, and exercises (including Mozilla’s “Getting Started with the Web”) to help you make your own websites and publish your own content in this course.

If you are new to technical and professional communication, then Han Yu and Jonathan Buehl’s Keywords in Technical and Professional Communication is an excellent open-access resource.

Our classroom this term is a Mac lab. I recommend Visual Studio Code or Brackets for text editing, FileZilla or Cyberduck for file transfer, and Git and GitHub for tracking, sharing, and collaborating on code. I’ll use all six in class for the sake of instruction. Please inform me if you decide to use alternative software, and I’ll do my best to integrate it with instruction.

I’ll use the course Brightspace to:

• Circulate weekly announcements (usually on Thursday or Friday) to help you plan for what’s coming next,
• Accept all your assignments, including your two websites (please don’t submit anything to me by email),
• Comment on those assignments, and
• Mark those assignments according to rubrics I’ll provide.

Assignments

I am asking you to complete five assignments this term (note that there are no exams, quizzes, presentations, or participation marks in this course):

1. Design Log v1: 15% of your final grade (due by Friday, September 29th at noon)
2. Design Log v2 + Site 1: 25% of your final grade (due by Friday, October 20th at noon)
3. Design Log v3: 15% of your final grade (due by Friday, November 10th at noon)
4. Design Log v4 + Site 2: 25% of your final grade (due by Friday, December 1st at noon)
5. Design Portfolio: 20% of your final grade (due by Friday, December 15th at noon)

Sites 1 and 2: You will create two websites, using valid HTML to compose the first one (Site 1) on your own and valid HTML and CSS to compose the second one (Site 2) as part of a small team (3-4 people). I will provide a rubric for these websites, and you will submit them (see due dates above) via Brightspace. I will give you some time to work on both sites during class, but you’ll need time to work on them between classes, too. I will not require you to publish either site online; however, I will show you how to publish them with and without a passcode. Your websites should not contain any advertisements.

Design Log (versions 1-4): The design log will be your way to respond informally in writing to workshops we will conduct in class. It’ll also help you to track your changes and document your learning throughout the term. Entries will be short (usually 150-250 words, plus media), and I will give you a prompt for each of them. I will provide a rubric for the design log, and you will submit four versions of it (see due dates above) via Brightspace. I encourage you to draft entries in class and refine them (as well as Sites 1 and 2) between meetings. The log should be a single document, and you should continue to add entries to it as you progress through the course. I recommend composing it in a word processor (Word, Docs, Pages, or the like).

Design Portfolio: The design portfolio will be your way to curate and comment on your web design work this term. It’ll include a brief bio, a general description of not only your design work and experience but also your process (including a statement of values), examples of your individual and collaborative work across Sites 1 and 2 (see above), brief descriptions of those examples, and a statement about where (you hope) your design work is going next. I’ll ask you to identify your community and audience (not just me or a potential employer) for the portfolio, which you’ll submit as a website or PDF file.

Brightspace: Please use Brightspace (rather than email) to submit all your work. You do not need to purchase any software to use Brightspace; however, you’ll need your UVic NetLink ID, access to the internet, and a computer.

Feedback: I will provide feedback on each assignment according to its rubric, with most of my energies dedicated to Versions 1 and 3 of your design log. Please email me or schedule an appointment (F2F or Zoom) to discuss any feedback I provide. Please also note that I’m teaching two courses this term (my other class has 73 students in it) while parenting, conducting research, and directing UVic’s Media Studies program. I respond to emails Monday through Friday, 9am - 5pm, excluding holidays. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Workload

The most important thing to know about this course is that I’ll opt for care in every instance. If the workload becomes too much, or we’re juggling more than we should, then we’ll cut material. I’ve planned for the maximum in advance, under the assumption that we won’t get to everything. And that’s totally fine.

I suggest dedicating 3 to 5 hours of study and practice to English 401 each week, plus 3 hours for weekly meetings (MTh). Of course, 3 to 5 hours per week is only a guideline. You may find that you need more or less time depending on the activity, your preferences, and your own familiarity with the work and materials involved (e.g., perhaps you already know HTML and/or CSS).

I will give you time to work on Site 1, Site 2, your design log, and your design portfolio during class; however, you will need more time (between classes) to develop and refine your work, hence the recommended 3 to 5 hours per week.

Schedule

Here’s the schedule for the term. It’s subject to change. In fact, I’m 96.42% certain there will be changes.

I will use a Brightspace announcement to notify you at least two weeks in advance of those changes, and I will never use schedule changes to increase your workload (e.g., extra assignments or additional reading).

Please note: this course is driven by workshops we’ll conduct in the Mac lab. I will rarely lecture, and I will rely on the assumption that you read the assigned material prior to the workshops.

Introductions (Sept. 7)

Questions for the start of term: Why are you taking this course on web design, what are you expecting, and what do you hope to learn?

Thursday, September 7th

• There’s no need to prep for our first meeting. We’ll introduce ourselves, talk about the course, review this outline, and discuss what’s available in the Mac lab.
• Please re-review this outline after our first meeting and email me any questions or concerns you have. Odds are good I made a mistake, missed something, or skimmed over important information. Don’t hesitate to call me on it.

Module 1: Getting Started (Sept. 11 and 14)

Questions for the module: What tensions (if not barriers) are you noticing between knowing the technical particulars of web design and creating the sort of content you (and others) want to see in the world? What’s the relationship between technical knowledge and power or control over web content?

Monday, September 11th

• Please read Mozilla’s “How the Web Works” and “What Will Your Website Look Like?”
• In-class workshops: “Track Changes: Starting Your Design Log” and “Explain a ‘Simple’ Site to Me”

Thursday, September 14th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Installing Basic Software” and “Dealing with Files.” I also recommend Helen Nissenbaum’s “Values in Technical Design” (PDF), which will inform many of our discussions this term.
• In-class workshops: “Keeping Things Found for Site 1” and “Communicating Values First in Your Design Practice”

Prompt for Site 1: Use valid HTML to create a simple website about yourself that also shares with your audience some community knowledge that you helped produce. Community knowledge may relate to your post-secondary studies, but it could also intersect with a hobby, club, cultural association, occupation, neighbourhood, volunteer job, or union, for instance. Your site can be a single page, and it may include a variety of media (text, audio, images, and/or video). It should not contain any advertisements, and it should not be a blog or replicate the “profile” format of social media. I recommend brief and focused content. Avoid scope creep, especially given the time constraints. You might, for instance, revise and/or reformat work you’ve done in the past and then include it alongside a short description of yourself and/or your interests. Feel free to run ideas by me and your peers as you proceed, and please ensure you give credit to anyone who contributed to your site or community knowledge. You are not required to publish Site 1 online; however, in Module 5, I will show you how to publish it with and without a passcode.

You should have two entries in your design log (version 1) by the end of this week.

Module 2: HTML Basics (Sept. 18 and 21)

Questions for the module: How is composing HTML a writing practice? How does it resonate with other sorts of writing you’ve done, and how does it differ? With which cultures or communities do you associate HTML in particular and web design in general?

Monday, September 18th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Getting Started with HTML” and “What’s in the Head? Metadata in HTML.” You might check out Visual Studio Code and Brackets, too.
• I recommend starting on your first website (Site 1; see prompt above), with attention to the content. Don’t worry if it’s rough.
• In-class workshop: “Plain or WYSIWYG?: Getting to Know Your Text Editor”

Thursday, September 21st

• Please read Mozilla’s “HTML Text Fundamentals” and “Creating Hyperlinks.”
• I recommend refining your design log entries between classes. Version 1 of the log is due next week.
• In-class workshops: “Experiment with Structure” and “Identifying (Dark) Patterns in Markup”

You should have four entries in your design log (version 1) by the end of this week.

Please note that Tuesday, September 19th is the last day for 100% reduction of tuition fees for standard first term and full year courses.

Module 3: Formatting, Structuring, and Debugging HTML (Sept. 25 and 28)

Questions for the module: How is web design about building a relationship? What sort of relationship do you want to build through design, with whom, and under what assumptions?

Monday, September 25th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Advanced Text Formatting” and “Document and Website Structure.”
• I recommend continuing to work on the content for your first website (Site 1). It can still be pretty rough at this point.
• In-class workshops: “Markup Your About Me” and “Identifying Your Community Knowledge”

Thursday, September 28th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Debugging HTML” and “Structuring a Page of Content.” Try “Marking Up a Letter” if you’d like.
• In-class workshops: “Sketch a Sitemap for Site 1” and “Validate Your Doc”

Friday, September 29th by noon (no class; just a due date)

• Please use Brightspace to submit Design Log v1 (15% of your final mark) in DOCX, RTF, or PDF by noon today. Your log should contain five entries. Be sure to give each of them a title with a timestamp. You don’t need to submit a draft of your website (Site 1).

You should have five entries in your design log (version 1) by the end of this week.

Please note that Saturday, September 30th is the last day for paying first term fees without penalty.

Module 4: Media Media Media (Oct. 5)

Questions for the module: How, and for whom, do you strike the right balance of media in a web design project? Which situations call for audio? Video? Images? Text? How do media turn “this” into “that” as part of the communications process?

Monday, October 2nd

• No class. UVic is closed for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30th).

Thursday, October 5th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Multimedia Embedding,” “Images in HTML,” “Video and Audio Content,” “From Object to Inline Frame,” and “Responsive Images.”
• I recommend continuing to work on the content for your first website (Site 1). Some of it can still be rough at this point. Plan to polish it next week, tho.
• In-class workshops: “Embed Your Own” and “Responsive Design”

You should have six entries in your design log (including one for version 2) by the end of this week.

Module 5: Publishing Your Site (Oct. 12)

Questions for the module: When and whether to publish? Must (all of) your project be online to matter to you or your community?

Monday, October 9th

• No class. UVic is closed for Thanksgiving Day.

Thursday, October 12th

• Please read UVic’s “Web Publishing and Hosting” and “Restrict Access to Your Website: macOS” / “Restrict Access to Your Website: Windows” as well as Mozilla’s “Publishing Your Website.” I also recommend experimenting with Phoenix, CodePen, and GitHub Pages.
• I recommend refining your log entries between classes and continuing to work on your first website (Site 1). They’re due next week.
• In-class workshop: “Options for Web Publishing (Including When Not to)”

You should have seven entries in your design log (including two for version 2) by the end of this week.

Please note that Tuesday, October 10th is the last day for 50% reduction of tuition fees for standard courses.

Module 6: Accessibility (Oct. 16 and 19)

Questions for the module: What forms of discrimination do marginalized people experience when they access web content? How do we better account for the contexts in which they may access that content?

Monday, October 16th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Accessibility,” “What Is Accessibility?”, “HTML: A Good Basis for Accessibility,” “Accessible Multimedia,” and “Mobile Accessibility.” I recommend R. Skjerve et al.’s “An Intersectional Perspective on Web Accessibility” and the Critical Design Lab (directed by Dr. Aimi Hamraie), too.
• I recommend working on the content for your first website (Site 1). It should be relatively polished at this point.
• In-class workshops: “Accounting for Context” and “Accessibility Troubleshooting”

Thursday, October 19th

• Polish and troubleshoot your first website (Site 1) for submission tomorrow.
• In-class workshop: “Invite Feedback and Provide Some, Too”

Friday, October 20th by noon (no class; just a due date)

• Please use Brightspace to submit Design Log v2 + Site 1 (25% of your final mark) by noon today. Your log should contain eight entries, three of which I’ve not read or marked. Be sure to give each of them a title with a timestamp. As for your site, you can submit it either as an attachment (if you decided not to publish it) or by providing me with a URL. If you attach it, then be sure to include any images, audio, and/or video. (A zipped or compressed folder works well.)

You should have eight entries in your design log (including three for version 2) by the end of this week.

Module 7: Alternatives to HTML (Oct. 23)

Question for the module: Why bother learning HTML in 2023?

Monday, October 23rd

• Please review the syntax for Markdown, the about page for Pandoc (install it and give it a try if you wish), the Wikipedia page for “Content Management System,” and OpenAI’s “GPT-4 Technical Report” (the first 14 pages of the PDF; don’t worry about the appendices). You might also enjoy the “Greetings, People of Earth” episode of This American Life, especially Act One, “First Contact.”
• I recommend forming your team for Site 2. Teams should consist of three or four people.
• In-class workshops: “Mark It Down” and “Automate It”

Prompt for Site 2: The aim of Site 2 echoes that of Site 1. Collaborate with two or three other people in this course to use valid HTML and CSS to create a simple website about yourselves that also shares with your audience some community knowledge that you helped produce. Again, community knowledge may relate to your post-secondary studies, but it could also intersect with a hobby, club, cultural association, occupation, neighbourhood, volunteer job, or union, for instance. Your site can be a single page, and it may include a variety of media (text, audio, images, and/or video). It should not contain any advertisements, and it should not be a blog or replicate the “profile” format of social media. I once again recommend brief and focused content. Avoid scope creep, especially given the time constraints. Feel free to run ideas by me and your peers as you proceed, and please ensure you give credit to anyone who contributed to your site or community knowledge. Your team is not required to publish this site online.

Module 8: Collaboration and Teamwork Agreements (Oct. 26)

Questions for the module: What’s involved in the shift from working alone to collaborating on a web design project? What are the appeals and pitfalls of teamwork agreements?

Thursday, October 26th

• Please read BC Public Service’s “Guidelines and Considerations for Expanding Flexible Work in the BC Public Service” (PDF) and Health Quality BC’s “Creating a Teamwork Agreement” (PDF). You might also consider how questions of genre, media, and community figure into teamwork agreements, and when such agreements might warrant updates or revisions.
• In-class workshops: “Draft a Teamwork Agreement” and “Ways to Collaborate Remotely and Locally”

You should have ten entries in your design log (including two for version 3) by the end of this week.

Module 9: Your Design Portfolio (Oct. 30)

Questions for the module: Come December, how do you want to document, comment on, and share the work you’ve done this term? What audience (other than me or a potential employer) do you have in mind, and how might you creatively convey the trajectories of your design practice?

Monday, October 30th

• Please coordinate with your team to create a sitemap and even some draft content for Site 2. Avoid scope creep and keep it simple.
• I also recommend refining entries in your design log.
• In-class workshop: “Preparing Your Design Portfolio”

Please note that Tuesday, October 31st is the last day for withdrawing from first term courses without penalty of failure.

Module 10: CSS Basics (Nov. 2)

Question for the module: How will your team integrate knowledge of CSS with your existing knowledge of HTML, accessibility, and publishing?

Thursday, November 2nd

• Please read Mozilla’s “What Is CSS?”, “Getting Started with CSS,” “How CSS Is Structured,” and “How CSS Works.” CSS may involve a steep learning curve. Don’t feel like you need to understand everything in these assigned readings. We’ll practice it in the lab.
• In-class workshops: “Getting Started with Style” and “The Look and Feel of Site 2”

You should have eleven entries in your design log (including three for version 3) by the end of this week.

Module 11: CSS Building Blocks and Debugging (Nov. 6 and 9)

Questions for the module: Which aspects of CSS strike you as essential for the project at hand? How might your team learn these essentials together and experiment with them as a group?

Monday, November 6th

• Please read Mozilla’s “CSS Selectors,” “Cascade, Specificity, and Inheritance,” “Cascade Layers,” “The Box Model,” and “Background and Borders.”
• Please continue to collaborate with your team on Site 2. The content and style can still be rough, but you should have a solid idea of the site’s purpose and audience.
• In-class workshop: “Balancing Style with Content in Site 2”

Thursday, November 9th

• Please read “Handling Different Text Directions,” “Overflowing Content,” “CSS Values and Units,” “Sizing Items in CSS,” and “Images, Media, and Form Elements.”
• In-class workshops: “Organizing and Debugging Site 2’s CSS” and “Accessible CSS”

Friday, November 10th by noon (no class; just a due date)

• Please use Brightspace to submit Design Log v3 (15% of your final mark) in DOCX, RTF, or PDF by noon today. Your log should contain twelve entries, four of which I’ve not read or marked. Be sure to give each of them a title with a timestamp. You don’t need to submit a draft of your website (Site 2).

You should have twelve entries in your design log (including four for version 3) by the end of this week.

Individualized Feedback (Nov. 16)

Question for this week: How can I help you with Site 2?

Monday, November 13th

• No class. UVic is closed for reading break.

Thursday, November 16th

• I’ll be available via Zoom during class time and by appointment throughout the day to provide individualized feedback on Site 2 and your portfolio work. Attendance is optional.

Module 12: Styling Text (Nov. 20)

Questions for the module: How is CSS helping you to better understand not only the need for accessibility but also the contexts in which your community or audience will engage your content? How is “good design” a matter of a project’s values?

Monday, November 20th

• Please read Mozilla’s “Fundamental Text and Font Styling,” “Styling Lists,” “Styling Links,” and “Web Fonts.”
• I recommend continuing to work with your team on Site 2. Aspects of the site should be nearly polished at this point.
• In-class workshop: “How Much CSS Is Too Much CSS?”

Module 13: CSS Layout and More Responsive Design (Nov. 23)

Questions for the module: How do the values of style and web design negotiate with the technical particulars of development? How does cultural demand for 24/7 content figure into this dynamic?

Thursday, November 23rd

• Please read Mozilla’s “Introduction to CSS Layout” and “Responsive Design.”
• I recommend refining the entries in your design log.
• In-class workshops: “From Lines to Layouts: Your Favourite Examples” and “Attribution for Site 2”

You should have fourteen entries in your design log (including two for version 4) by the end of this week.

Module 14: Web Performance (Nov. 27)

Question for the module: What are some interesting tensions between perceived performance and performance metrics? Consider the experience of waiting, for instance.

Monday, November 27th

• Please read Mozilla’s “The ‘Why’ of Web Performance,” “What Is Web Performance?”, “Perceived Performance,” and “Measuring Performance.”
• I recommend continuing to work with your team on Site 2, which should be nearly finished.
• In-class workshops: “Testing Site 2” and “Two More Meetings with Your Team”

Module 15: Values Redux (Nov. 30)

Questions for the module: Now, near the end of term, what do you make of “translation,” “resolution,” and “verification” as web design activities? How can each be addressed technically, empirically, and culturally?

Thursday, November 30th

• Please polish Site 2 for submission tomorrow.
• Return to Nissenbaum’s “Values in Technical Design” (PDF) if you’ve a moment.
• In-class workshop: “One More Meeting with Your Team”

Friday, December 1st by noon (no class; just a due date)

• Please use Brightspace to submit Design Log v4 + Site 2 (25% of your final mark) by noon today. Your log should contain fifteen entries, three of which I’ve not read or marked. Be sure to give each of them a title with a timestamp. As for your team’s site, you can submit it either as an attachment (if you decided not to publish it) or by providing me with a URL. If you attach it, then be sure to include any images, audio, and/or video. A zipped or compressed file works well here. I know it’s redundant, but each team member should submit the team’s site for assessment.

You should have fifteen entries in your design log (including three for version 4) by the end of this week.

You’re Done! (Dec. 4 and 15)

Question for December: How can I help you with the design portfolio?

Monday, December 4th

• Please prepare questions about the design portfolio for me and your peers to address during class.
• We’ll celebrate the end of term and all the work you did in this course.

Friday, December 15th by noon (no class; just a due date)

• Please use Brightspace to submit your Design Portfolio (20% of your final mark) by noon today. It should include a brief bio, a general description of not only your web design work and experience but also your process (including a statement of values), examples of your individual and collaborative work across Sites 1 and 2, brief descriptions of those examples, and a statement about where (you hope) your design work is going next. Please be sure to identify your community and audience (not just me or a potential employer) for the portfolio. You’re welcome to submit it as a website or PDF file.

Policies

Here are the policies for this course. If anything is unclear, ignorant, or mistaken, then please let me know. I’ll correct it.

Prerequisites

The undergraduate calendar outlines the prerequisites for this course.

Assessment and Feedback

The Design Portfolio, Design Log v1 or v3, and Design Log v2 + Site 1 or Design Log v4 + Site 2 are required to pass this course. Failure to complete these three assignments will result in a failing N grade (calculated as a 0 for your GPA).

I will use UVic’s official grading system to produce rubrics to assess your work. I will not post marks publicly or outside my office, and I do not use plagiarism detection software.

All assignments should be submitted via Brightspace. I will also use Brightspace to provide feedback on your work. If you ever want additional feedback, then feel free to ask me. I can provide it in person or via email.

Throughout the term, I’ll request feedback from you on how the course is going. I’ll also ask you to complete Course Experience Surveys at the end of the term.

Late Submissions and Extensions

I’ve a 24-hour grace period (no questions asked, no email required, and no penalties) for every assignment in this course. Holidays, reading break, and weekends are exempt from this grace period, meaning you’re permitted to submit an assignment that’s due by noon on a Friday by noon on a Monday. If that Monday is a holiday or part of reading break, then you’ve until noon the day UVic returns to classes.

Please email me if you need an extension for any assignment, and we can discuss possibilities on a case-by-case basis.

Attendance and Participation

There is no participation or attendance mark in this course; however, this course is driven by workshops and collaborative activities, which are difficult to record. I will assume you are attending each class meeting. If you are unable to attend a particular meeting, then please email me in advance and coordinate with a peer to get notes and the like from the session(s) you’ll miss. You do not need to provide me with documentation for an absence.

Communications and Office Hours

The best way to communicate with me is by email (jentery@uvic.ca) or during office hours, which are Monday and Thursday, 11:30am - 12:30pm, in CLE D331 . I can also make an appointment to meet with you in person or via Zoom.

I respond to email between 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Learning Climate

The University of Victoria is committed to promoting, providing, and protecting a positive, supportive, and safe working and learning environment for all its members. We are expected to adhere to UVic’s equity and human rights policies and the Trifaculty Code of Professional Behaviour. You should alert me immediately if you have any questions about these policies and their application or if you have concerns about course proceedings or participants.

Academic Integrity

We are expected to adhere to UVic’s academic integrity policy and be aware of the policies for the evaluation of student work. Violations of the integrity policy may result in a failing grade for the given assignment and may additionally result in a failing grade for the course. By taking this course, you agree that all submitted assignments may be subject to an originality review. I do not use software to detect plagiarism or AI in essays, exams, or any other assignments.

I also recommend the Libraries’ plagiarism guide for learning more about academic integrity. You are of course always welcome to talk to me, too.

Copyright

All course materials, including my notes and lectures, are made available for educational purposes and for the exclusive use of students in this course. The material is protected under copyright law, even if not marked as such. The syllabus itself is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Any further use or distribution of materials to others requires written permission, except under fair dealing or another exception in the Copyright Act. Violations may result in disciplinary action under the Resolution of Non-Academic Misconduct Allegations policy (AC1300).

Online Conduct

The University of Victoria is committed to promoting critical academic discourse while providing a respectful and supportive learning environment. All members of the university community have the right to this experience and the responsibility to help create such an environment. The University will not tolerate racism, sexualized violence, or any form of discrimination, bullying, or harassment.

Please be advised that, by logging into UVic’s learning systems and interacting with online resources, you are engaging in a university activity. All interactions within this environment are subject to the university’s expectations and policies. Any concerns about student conduct may be reviewed and responded to in accordance with the appropriate university policy. To report concerns about online student conduct, email onlineconduct@uvic.ca.

Accessibility

If you have a disability or health consideration that may require supports, please feel free to approach me and/or the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) as soon as possible. CAL staff are available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals, and arrange appropriate supports. I will never ask you to disclose a diagnosis, health consideration, or disability to me, and I know that access needs are social, cultural, and structural issues that aren’t always addressed, or adequately addressed, by institutions such as the academy.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

I aim to create an inclusive learning environment that attends to difference and honours each of you, including your experiences as well as the intersections of race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion, power, and class. I want to be a resource for you, and I am still learning. If something is said in class (by anyone, including me) that makes you feel uncomfortable, then don’t hesitate to talk with me. If you have a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your university records, then let me know and I’ll correct the documents provided to me. If your performance in the class is being impeded by your experiences outside of class, then keep me posted and we’ll make adjustments. I also welcome any suggestions to improve the quality of the course and/or its culture and materials, and I will make available mechanisms for anonymous feedback since you may prefer them. If you’d rather speak with someone outside the course, then Luke Carson (chair), Rebecca Halliday (Professional Communication adviser), and Erin Ellerbeck (undergraduate adviser) in English are excellent resources.

The following student groups may be relevant to your life as a student here at UVic:

• The Native Students Union “is an organization run for and by Indigenous students at UVic. Since circa 1969, Indigenous students have been coming together to form community, support each other, advocate for Indigenous rights and wellbeing, and just exist together at the institution. The NSU runs events and programs, manages a student space with services, and advocates for Indigenous student success and wellness at UVic. The NSU Council leads the NSU in running and developing these services.”
• The Students of Colour Collective “are a Collective of self-identified people of colour at the University of Victoria. Anyone identifying as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Person of Colour) is welcome to use our lounge and access our resources. SOCC exists to create space that fosters community building, and facilitates networking and gatherings for self-identified BIPOC folks. Our work centres on art, awareness, education, action, advocacy, and support. Every student of colour is welcome to get in touch and find out how to get involved.”
• The Society for Students with a Disability (SSD) “is a post-secondary student advocacy group under the University of Victoria Students’ Union which promotes the full participation and inclusion of students who self-identify as having one or more disabilities at the University of Victoria. The SSD aims to support students who self-identify as having one or more disabilities; in particular, we support students to reduce barriers in the social, emotional, and educational domains of student life.”
• The Gender Empowerment Centre (GEM) “is an inclusive space, focused on the needs of self-identified women, non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming folks to organize, network, access resources, attend workshops and events, study, and relax. Our space is open to both University of Victoria students and community members.”
• UVic Pride “is an organization for all people who are queer, queer-positive, gender-variant and/or intersex. We strive to meet the needs of people who self-identify as queer (including but not limited to people who identify as Two Spirit, bisexual, lesbian, gay, asexual, demisexual, aromantic, and pansexual, as well as people who do not identify with these labels); trans people; those who are questioning their sexuality or gender; those who are struggling with concerns related to intersexuality; and supportive partners, friends, family members, and allies.”

Language for this policy was drawn from the Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University and the work of Monica Linden in particular.

Basic Needs

I want you to thrive in this course and everywhere else. Please let me know as early as possible if you have any concerns or if you require any supports to succeed. I’ll do my best to help. If, for instance, you need to cover gaps in care, then please don’t hesitate to bring your children to class meetings. Babies who are nursing are always welcome, as I do not want you to choose between feeding your child and continuing your education.

UVic takes student mental health very seriously, with a website full of resources. They offer services such as assistance and referral to address students’ personal, social, career, and study skills concerns. Services for students also include crisis and emergency mental health consultation, confidential assessment, and counselling services (individual and small group). Many of these programs are connected with Health Services, which you may contact by phone.

The Student Services website lists several policies, a knowledge of which may make your life at UVic safer and easier. Only some of them are directly related to this course, but they’re still important.

Language for this policy was drawn from the work of Richard Pickard at UVic.

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Many thanks to Mark Chen for their suggestions, including the idea of studying dark patterns in web design, as I wrote this course outline. Thanks as well to Sara Cassidy for providing me with a professional communications perspective and sharing her experiences working for the BC Ministry of Health.

This syllabus is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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