CIW Certification/Study Guides/Site Development Foundations

Site Development Foundations

SKILLS MEASURED

Foundations skills are not product- or system-specific. They are a combination of minimal technical and non-technical skills and knowledge required for those interested in developing specific Internet skills as a designer, developer or administrator. The exam also requires a basic understanding of essential business practices that relate directly to Internet technologies. The 1D0-510 Domain 2.0 tests the following topics:

Demonstrate knowledge required to create web pages

HTML documents are ASCII text files with special characters called tags, that are used to indicate how the document and content are formatted.

The basic HTML document consists of the following elements:

Declaration of document type - a DOCTYPE statement indicating the HTML specification used.
- Example: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
<html> - An opening tag to indicate the beginning of an HTML document.
<head> - The opening tag for header information. Header information may include scripting code and is not displayed in the browser window.
<title> </title> - The opening and closing tags for the title of your document. These tags and the accompanying title are located within the header information. The title is displayed in your browser's caption.
</head> - The closing tag for header information.
<body> </body> - The opening and closing tags for the content that will be displayed in your browser.
</html> - A closing tag to indicate the end of an HTML document.

Images and graphical formats

The introduction of graphic images into web pages requires considerable thought. They can make a lasting positive first impression to a new visitor or they can discourage traffic from returning to the site. Using the wrong type or too large a graphic can cause a page to load at an unbearably slow pace.

The following graphic file formats are commonly used in web design:

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

Design and color principles

Effective Web design often implements a layout style known as "inverted pyramid". Pages are arranged with the most significant content to the front or top of the publication and the least significant content following. A well structured layout should be consistent throughout the site and may include several of the following components:

Margins - Controls whitespace between content and the edge of browser windows.
Borders - Provide HTML table and frame borders.
Whitespace - Eliminates clutter and separates content.
Color - Can be used to define organization.
Headings - Organizes content into outline format.
Paragraphs - Used to group blocks of text into sections.
Divisions - Divides content into large sections.
Framesets - Allow the display of multiple pages at once.
Rules - Used to divide content.
Tables - Presents data in tabular format and positions elements.
Lists - Presents content in a list format.
Navigation - Assists user movement through a Web site.
Images - Attracts attention or used for navigation.

Forms that accepts user input

HTML forms are a series of user interface elements designed to permit the entry of data by the user. An HTML form may include the following tags:

<form> - Opening form tag. Defines the attributes of an HTML form.
<input> - Input field tag. Defines the attributes of a field designed for user input.
<button> - Button tag. Defines the attributes of a user activated push button.
<select> - Selectable list tag. Defines the attributes of a drop-down selection box.
<option> - Option tag. Defines the options in a drop-down selection box.
</form> - Closing form tag. Indicates the end of an HTML form element.

Create frames

Define XML and identify its features and appropriate use

Extensible Markup Language (XML) - a general-purpose markup language used to share data on different systems across the Internet. XML allows the use of user-defined markup tags and is recognized as an open standard by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

A subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), XML is sometimes used as a specification language for other application languages including XHTML, RSS, MathML, GraphML, Scalable Vector Graphics, MusicXML, etc.

Identify essential navigation issues and ensure accessibility

Define and apply essential aspects of the CSS standard

Use XHTML to create web pages

Identify technologies for enhancing the user experience

Demonstrate use of GUI-based HTML editing software

Test and analyze performance issues

Identify steps in the planning and development process

Identify essential issues in developing and maintaining a website

Plan and deliver oral presentations of your website, during and after site development

Domain 2.16

Define electronic commerce (e-commerce) and related technologies and concepts necessary to develop a secure, useful interface (i.e., storefront).