SkillsUSA Web Design Technical Committee
The Web Design Technical Committee supports and assists SkillsUSA chapters to prepare for and deliver a local, regional and state Web Design Contest in preparation for the SkillsUSA National Web Design Contest to be held in Kansas City in June, 2007. The World Organization of Westmasters will be sponsoring the national SkillsUSA Web Design Contest, as well as providing technical resources and references. For further information or to volunteer your efforts or resources, please email Bill Cullifer or Evelyn Zayas at WOW.
SkillsUSA Web Design Contest
The purpose of the SkillsUSA Web Design Contest is to evaluate each contestant’s preparation for employment and to recognize outstanding students for excellence and professionalism in the field of web design and webmastering. Each team invited to the Nationals in Kansas City, Missouri will consist of individuals that will fill the roles of Web Designer, Webmaster and Web Developer. The 2007 contest will entail each team building a completely working web site for a non-profit agency with a theme that is consist with this year's theme: the area of Employment (more information at http://www.skillsusa.org/). This year, there will be a focus on web site accessibility issues as outlined in the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (more information at http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/). All updates or changes to the National contest will be posted on the SkillsUSA Championship Contest Updates webpage at http://www.skillsusa.org/
A Model Web Site for Participating SkillsUSA Chapters
Illinois Central College has documented their Web Design Contest used at the state of Illinois SkillsUSA contest in Springfield. Other states who wish to develop similar web design contests may use this web site as a model.Other documents are available from the 2007 State Contest page that provides example data and development process suggestions.
Frequently Asked Questions for 2007
SkillsUSA FAQ’s
Q. Will there be a need for Internet access? And if so, how will it be provided?
A. Internet access will not be provided during the contest. Contestants found logging into the Internet during the contest will be disqualified.
Q. Do we need to make any web hosting arrangements or provide
a web server?
A. No. Server-side functionality will not be provided or
needed for this year’s contest. Each team's web site will be evaluated
as it displays and functions within a variety of browsers. Each team must
deliver their entire web site project on CD or thumb drive for judging.
Q. Can we bring reference material for use during the contest?
A. No. Technical documentation such as HTML, CSS and Javascript
reference material will be provided in hardcopy to all teams prior to the
start of the contest. This is a change to what was done in previous years,
so that all teams now have access to equal material.
Q. What reference material will be provided during the contest?
A. At a minimum, HTML, CSS and Javascript reference material
will be provided in hardcopy to all teams prior to the start of the contest.
Q. In the Scope of the Contest it is stated that “the web
design project will be announced at the beginning of each year”. What
is the theme of the web site? And how should we document?
A. The theme should match what SkillsUSA announces each
year. This years theme is http://www.skillsusa.org/
Q. Are students allowed to bring stock photos or will necessary photos be furnished?
A. All graphics and artwork be provided to the teams on CD the day of the contest.
Q.In both regional and state, we were allowed to bring a printer, is this true for Nationals?
A. Not this year.
Q. We set a certain level of security on our file sharing – will you need access to our shares?
A. No.
Q. In previous years, all contestants were to e-mail to WOW a
URL of a work sample (a web site created by the team as a whole) as well
as individual resumes? Is this still a requirement?
A. Each contestant must bring an individual resume to the
Nationals, which will become part of each team’s portfolio that will
be consolidated and evaluated as part of the Professionalism scoring. The
requirement for a team-constructed web site as a work sample has been suspended
this year .
Q. What are the requirements for the work resume format. Should
it be traditional paper resume or designer’s e-portfolio. Please,
specify the formats.
A. SkillsUSA only specifies a one-page resume.
Q. Written Evaluation section: I understood the template for the written evaluation will be provided. How do we obtain it? Would you please describe what is meant by the “template”?
A. The Written Evaluation is a multiple-choice quiz. An
example quiz is provided in the downloadable zip file on the State Contest
page at: http://www.webprofessionals.org/skillsusa/
Q. Are contestants restricted to using only HTML, XHTML, CSS, or can Frontpage and Dreamweaver software be used?
A. Teams may use whatever authoring tools they want, provided that they bring proof of software license.
Q. My team is concerned and wants to be sure that each team starts from complete scratch on their website.
A. This concern is understandable. Any team found to be using previously developed content for the contest will be disqualified.
Q. Are contestants required to supply their own web hosting / webserver?
A. No.
Q. Do we need to bring a web server with us to the conference?
A. No.
Q. Will SkillsUSA verify that there is no content already on each team's web host account?
A. SkillsUSA will verify this to the greatest extent possible.
Q. Do the students need to be working on a non-profit site before the contest in late June, or will they have have to start a site from scratch during the National contest?
A. Each team must develop a web site “from scratch” during the contest. Any team found to be using previously developed content for the contest will be disqualified.
Q. Will participants be able to do any work in Illustrator or Photoshop?
A. Teams may use whatever authoring tools they want, provided that they bring proof of software license.
Q. We are confused about the use of a story board. What do we have to put on the story board?
A. In industry, story boards are typically used as “low tech” methods during initial web site design to capture ideas about site navigation, look and feel, page hierarchy, etc. for customer feedback, usability considerations, etc.
Q. Can laptops be used instead of desktop computers?
A. Considering work space limitations, laptops are preferable.
Each team may have up to 2 computers in their station.
Q Can we bring a test laptop (e.g.: a PowerBook or a Linux laptop.)?
A. Each team may have up to 2 computers in their station.
Q. What is the time allowed to produce the website? (Limitations on who can work when?)
A. The contest will be 6 or 7 hours, the exact schedule will be provided during the orientation meeting at Nationals.
Q. I know it is outlined in the PDF, but for clarification, are contestants required to bring their own computers?
A. That is correct, contestants are to bring their own
computers, preferably laptops. A maximum of 2 computers per team will be
allowed.
For further information or to volunteer your efforts or resources, please email Bill Cullifer or Evelyn Zayas at WOW.