Syllabus

General

This is the syllabus for the Fall 2025 class of AVT 415: Web Design and Usability (3 credits). The instructor is Michael McDermott, he can be reached by email at mmcderm8 at gmu dot edu and can be met with at his virtual office hours by appointment.

Download a PDF version

Delivery and Timing

We will meet once a week in person on Wednesday from 1:30 to 4:10 in room 1021 in the Art and Design Building. The classes are required and during our sessions we will discuss work, complete demos, and further our coding and design knowledge. The class is scheduled to run for 16 weeks and you can expect to work for 6 hours outside of class each week.

Prerequisites

AVT 217: Introduction to Web Design, AVT 311: Graphic Design Principles and Methods and AVT 313: Editorial Design, or permission of instructor.

Course Description

Building on existing skills and principles, this course delves deeper into web-related concepts and techniques. Students will gain knowledge in more advanced coding concepts while building their design skills as they relate to the web. IMPORTANT: a foundational level of HTML, CSS, and web graphics knowledge is assumed to allow us more time to focus on the projects themselves.

Objectives

• Develop general design skills
• Apply best practices for accessibility and usability as they relate to the designing and coding of websites
• Build knowledge of more advanced HTML and CSS concepts
• Analyze everyday interactions on the web from a critical perspective
• Understand the use of frameworks and design systems

Textbook

There is no specific textbook for this course but there are many digital resources we will use and reference throughout the semester. Those resources can be found on the schedule and in the reference

Programs

There are many different programs available to use for the work in this class. The programs I will be using are highlighted but alternatives are also listed.

design

Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, Illustrator, Lunacy. No Photoshop as a design tool.

coding

Sublime Text, Brackets. We will not be using Dreamweaver, Notepad, or TextEdit as a code editor in this course.

other

Github Desktop (updating your website), Chrome, Safari, or Firefox (viewing your website). Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge are not acceptable browsers for this class

Content

This course consists of exercises, projects, demos, discussions, and critiques. The exercises are to familiarize students with specific concepts and ideas and the projects are to synthesize the concepts and ideas we will cover.

project 1: tell a story

Design and build a single page, responsive website that tells the history, process, or story of a selected topic. The page can be on any topic and will be built out to include six total sections to help explain the topic. More information here.

project 2: for sale

Design a responsive, three page site for a fictional retail company focusing on usability. The site will include a home page, product page, and one additional page of your choice. More information here.

Attendance

Your attendance is tied to your engagement grade. Each class you miss will lower your engagement grade by 25 points unless you let me know you won’t be in class and make an effort to cover what you missed in class. Each class you are late to will lower your engagement grade by 10 points unless you let me know. If you miss four or more classes you will automatically fail the class unless you have communicated with me prior to the fourth absence.

Engagement

This course has an engagement policy instead of an attendance policy. Your engagement will affect your final grade (and, by extension, the quality of your work) for this course. You are expected to actively and passionately take part in this course in the following ways.

• Attend class meetings
• Create things and be prepared to show them on time.
• Make things thoughtfully, intentionally, and with intensity.
• Meet all deadlines for handing in work and process.
• Actively participate in critiques both in class and out of class.
• Be curious about making things and the things your classmates make.
• Care about yourself & your work, your classmates & their work, and this class.

Grading

Grades will be based on engagement (25%), exercises (25%), and projects (50%).

engagement (25%)

This percentage will be based on your engagement in the class which is explained on previous page but will include attendance, discussion, critiques, and overall participation. Be engaged in this course and its content throughout the semester and this should be an easy 25%.

exercises (25%)

The exercises are graded using one of two basic rubrics shown below. The rubric that is used depends on whether it was a coding or design exercise and include your ability to follow the instructions of the exercise and your ability to submit it on time. The exercises are meant to be quicker, skill building tasks that improve your coding and design knowledge.

projects (50%)

Each project will generate two different grades. One grade will be based on your ability to submit the required, weekly checkpoints for the project. These weekly checkpoints use a simple rubric based on your effort, timeliness, improvement, and completion. The second grade will be based on the final project you submit and has a more extensive rubric. At the end of the semester you will have 4 total project grades that are all weighted equally for this 50%.

Late Work

Late work will be accepted for three weeks after a deadline with the exception of the final project which will be due at the end of the semester. There is a section on the rubrics showing how late work is factored into the assignment grade.

rubrics

Rubrics are used to grade exercises, projects, and checkpoints. The rubrics are available in the PDF syllabus and attached to the assignments on Canvas.

Communication

Your ability to communicate with me is of prime importance in this course. If you are going to be absent, late, or not have your work, it will be your best interest in communicating those things to me in advance. I do not need to know your reasons for being absent, late, or not having your work but I do need to know. A simple, short email will be fine.

The same goes for if you are struggling in this class or having other issues that are hindering your ability to complete work in this class. The more you keep me in the loop the more I can help you and adjust as needed.

Weekly Schedule

Class is on Wednesday from 1:30–4:10pm. Most days we will meet for the entire time but some weeks we will have individual meetings or end early. Unless otherwise specified, all work is due at the beginning of class.

A note—Time management is an important skill to master and should be worked on all your classes. Staying up all night working is not a badge of honor, it typically means you didn’t budget your time correctly. Staying up all night isn’t healthy and, especially now, making sure you are keeping yourself healthy is your first priority.

Semester Schedule

The schedule on this site is an outline of what we will be covering this fall. It is subject to additions, subtractions, and shifts.

Discussion of Work

You will need to take an active role in both the presentation and discussion of your work. We will review projects in a variety of ways and you are expected to be able to talk and write about your own work and give feedback to your peers about their work. The ability to discuss your work and other student’s work is a very important part of your education at Mason. Use this class to improve on those skills.