This course is part of Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding Specialization
Instructors: Colleen van Lent, Ph.D.
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Understand how JavaScript is used to react to user events.
Write your own JavaScript code to let a person interact with your page.
Discuss how JavaScript can introduce accessibility issues.
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If you want to take your website to the next level, the ability to incorporate interactivity is a must. But adding some of these types of capabilities requires a stronger programming language than HTML5 or CSS3, and JavaScript can provide just what you need. With just a basic understanding of the language, you can create a page that will react to common events such as page loads, mouse clicks & movements, and even keyboard input.
This course will introduce you to the basics of the JavaScript language. We will cover concepts such as variables, looping, functions, and even a little bit about debugging tools. You will understand how the Document Object Model (DOM) is used by JavaScript to identify and modify specific parts of your page. After the course, learners will be able to react to DOM Events and dynamically alter the contents and style of their page. The class will culminate in a final project - the creation of an interactive HTML5 form that accepts and verifies input. This can be completed as the third or fourth course in the Web Design For Everybody specialization.
If you haven't use a traditional programming language before, this first week is key. Before we begin with the how, we will talk about the why, mainly why we want to use JavaScript. The main reason is that it is very easy for JavaScript to work with the DOM. And easy is always a great way to start. Speaking of starting out, it is also always more fun when our code actually does something we can see, so we will jump quickly into different ways we can generate output. It won't be flashy yet, but it will be a great way to get your feet wet with traditional programming. After that we go back to the basics of how a computer uses data. We begin with variables, expressions, and operators.
7 videos9 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
If you have written HTML code in the past, hopefully you have fallen into the great habit of validating your code -- making sure that you close all of your open tags. There are other rules that you may or may not have been following as well, for instance the importance of using each id attribute only once per page. This is called writing "clean" code. The reasoning and importance of following these rules becomes clear as we begin to manipulate the different components of your webpage based on the the actions of the person interacting with your page. In particular you will learn about the JavaScript Mouse Events and Touch Events. This week's materials will end with a photo gallery example that you can create along with me.
7 videos7 readings1 assignment1 peer review1 app item
This week we will delve into more complex programming concepts: arrays and looping. Arrays allow you to represent groups of related information. Looping provides efficiency and flexibility to your programs. Using both we will expand upon the photo gallery example.
2 videos5 readings1 assignment
This week is all about putting concepts together to do "cool" things. And we even stop for a second to talk about the the trade-off between cool things and accessibility. The final project this week will be a new version of your coding project in Week 2. You will make an interactive photo gallery from your own images and will add the functionality of keyboard accessibility to it.
5 videos6 readings1 peer review1 app item
We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.
Instructor ratings
We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.
The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
University of California, Davis
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Reviewed on Nov 29, 2019
Great course, it starts from basic code and it is really helpful to get a basic idea about how JavaScript works. Again the code together videos are nice and well explained. Highly recommended.
Reviewed on Oct 11, 2016
Good basic learning course in javascript. Most of the students dont know even the simple basic concepts related to web design. Those can be covered in this course...Happy Coding Everybody.
Reviewed on Mar 15, 2016
An excellent course, my JavaScript has improved greatly since I completed the requirements. Colleen is a fantastic teacher, I found the lectures to be highly informative and the assignments good fun.
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