Web design basics for librarians

For Immediate Release
Tue, 10/07/2014

Contact:

Dan Freeman

eLearning Manager

ALA Publishing

ALA Publishing

editionscoursehelp@ala.org

CHICAGO — ALA Editions announces a new new iteration of its popular eCourse, Web Design Basics for Librarians. Diane Kovacs will serve as the instructor for this six-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. Please note that this is a four-week course that has been extended an additional two weeks to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday.

HTML elements are the basic building blocks of every webpage, so a little coding skill can yield big gains in effective communication and efficient website maintenance. With basic HTML skills, you can add links to your press releases, customize your Facebook page or update your library’s website.  Even if you work with rich text editors in a content management system, fundamental web design principles will give you better results.  Once you know the basics, you can deepen your contribution to the web team with skills in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript .

Diane Kovacs, an experienced web designer and online instructor, will show you how to design attractive, clear, and accessible webpages and give you the foundation for learning more.

eCourse outline

Topic 1. Web Standards and Basic Concepts:
Creating a Basic Web Page (HTML5 Standards) 

Topic 2. CSS for Style and Layout (External CSS3 Standard)

Topic 3. Accessibility Validation, and Usability Testing

Topic 4. User Centered Design: Needs Assessment and Design Planning

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Use standard HTML (HTML5 at this time) to create usable and accessible Web pages.
  • Use standard external CSS to layout and style Web pages including highly accessible navigation and menus
  • Use both text and WYSIWYG editors to create web content
  • Draft a needs assessment and design plan for a Web project of your choice.
  • An understanding of accessibility and how to design accessible pages
  • A foundation for further self-learning for more advanced web design
  • Practice accessibility validation and simple usability testing for selected users/groups.

About the Instructor

Diane Kovacs is a consultant, teacher and librarian. She has nine years’ experience teaching online in library schools, for both the University of Illinois and San Jose State University. An instructional designer and trainer, she has developed courses for public and academic librarians on technology usage, library instruction, web design, government documents, virtual reference, and electronic collection development. In 2000 she received the "Documents to the People" award from the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT).

Registration for this ALA Editions facilitated eCourse, which begins on Monday, Nov. 3, can be purchased at the ALA Store. Participants in this course will need regular access to a computer with an internet connection for online message board participation, viewing online video, listening to streaming audio (MP3 files), and downloading and viewing PDF and PowerPoint files.

ALA Editions publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5843 or editionscoursehelp@ala.org.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.