Introduction

Web Development Overview

Introduction

The objective of this class is to give an overview of the current state of Web development at the University of Washington. In particular, we will discuss trends that might influence your choices in how you develop and maintain your own Web site.

Topics

Web development tools help. DreamWeaver, HTML-Kit, and others can help greatly in creating high quality, standards-compliant sites.
Web technologies are converging. Web tools and languages increasingly share common fundamental standards, making it easier and more reliable to use them together. Here at the UW, standard technology solutions, such as the pubcookie authentication, are available to Web developers.
Web site management can be done many ways. The size and complexity of your information, the skills of your staff, the resources you have available, and your long term direction all influence the choices you make.
Content management needs are changing. In the past, creating a Web site consisted of making a few pages and linking them together. Now sites are more complex. Web developers think in terms of consistent look and feel, ability to make global changes, change management, workflow definition, versioning, and backup.
Central UW servers provide reliable services. Someone else worries about system configuration, updates, security and backup.
User centered design methods help insure your site works for your audience. Involve users in the design process, collect data on use patterns, and conduct usability tests throughout the development process.
The UW values privacy, security, and accessibility in its online services.
Extensive resources are on the Web, but watch out for the outdated stuff.

Instructor

Rick Ells, Webmaster