Web Design Competition

Computer and Information Science Department College of Engineering and Computer Science University of Michigan-Dearborn
Official Rules Eligibility: The contest is open to high school junior and senior level students working in teams of two. Team members will be required to compete onsite at the University of MichiganDearborn campus, and must be officially registered for the Web Design Competition via the Register Here link on the Engineering/Computer Science Experience contest web page at: http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/contest/ Competition Purpose: The purpose of the competition is to produce a 4+ page website based on the competition topic (announced the day of the competition), permitted development tools, target web browsers, and teamwork, while applying HTML, CSS, attribution, accessibility, and user interface standards. Each team will be assigned to a computer. Each team must do all the work of creating the web pages using the permitted development tools (see Permitted Development Tools section), but may make use of content (e.g. images, audio, and video) found on the Internet when provided with proof of documentation that permits its use. Cheating: The emphasis is on the team creating the website. Therefore, any team determined to be cheating, interfering with another team, or interfering with competition servers/workstations, will suffer a severe point deduction or be immediately disqualified from the competition. Any team disqualified from the competition may also be asked to leave the building for the remainder of the competition. Permitted Development Tools: 1. Web Page: a. Dreamweaver b. Expression Web c. Firefox d. Lynx e. Notepad++ (an improved version of Notepad with syntax highlighting) f. Visual Studio 2. Image/Graphic: a. GIMP b. Paint.NET 3. Audio Editing/Conversion: a. Audacity 4. Audio/Video Conversion: a. SUPER Page 1 of 5

Prohibited Content: Each website may not contain material deemed objectionable to the UM-Dearborn community (e.g. no pornography, no profanity, nothing offensive to a persons gender, ethnicity, or religious beliefs, no references to alcohol, tobacco, or drugs) Requirements: The website must contain the following components: 1. Introductory article or overview 2. Menu or index of some type 3. Team contact information a. Team # b. High school name c. Team member names and email addresses 4. Content Attributions (see Content Attributions section) Content Attributions: Entries must adhere to copyright laws. Therefore, all graphics and multimedia components used in the website must be listed on a separate web page of the submitted website with notations that indicate the copyright status for each graphic and multimedia component used. The only valid copyright statuses in which a component may be used for the teams website are: 1. Team has obtained permission to use the file (include the permission documentation, or a URL to the documentation proof) 2. File is free to use (include a URL reference to the source, and a URL reference to proof that it is free to use) 3. Team members own the rights to the content item (for when the item is created by the team members) Standards Compliance: Web pages must employ standards-based web design with well formed HTML and CSS. The following will be applied in judging regardless of whether the HTML was hand-coded or created with an editor: 1. The expected DOCTYPE standard for building the web pages is: HTML 4.01 (Strict/Transitional/Frameset) 2. Every HTML document should pass the W3C Markup Validation Service with 0 errors (warnings are acceptable), as Firefox usually will not report validation errors. (HTML 4.01 DOCTYPE Examples) 3. Every HTML opening tag (i.e. <p>) must have a matching closing tag (i.e. </p>). Tags that have no closing tag should include a space and the closing slash at the end of the tag (i.e. <br />). 4. The document tags must be well formed. i.e. a. Well Formed: <p><b><i>Red</i></b><br />Car</p> b. Not Well Formed: <p><b><i>Red</b></i><br>Car 5. All tags must be in lower case. 6. Web pages must be fully functional in the Firefox web browser. Web Server Access: The day of the competition, each team will receive a unique username & password for accessing the competition web server to upload and view their website. Page 2 of 5

Default Pages: The only default page filenames that will be honored on the contest web server are: 1. index.html 2. index.php (.php is the only extension that will be parsed for PHP Scripting) I.E. The root filename for each teams website MUST be one of the filenames in the preceding list. Web Page Filenames: Will your team be using PHP server side scripting? Yes: Please create all of your web page files with the .php filename extension. No: Please create all of your web page files with the .html filename extension. Templates: Templates must be created using any of the following methods: from scratch from creating custom template files with editable and non-editable zones from using PHP functions to produce a template system Use of any built-in template, template wizard, or template from the internet or any other source is not permitted, and is considered cheating. Cascading Style Sheets: Cascading Style Sheets must either be created from scratch, or by using one of the permitted web development software programs. Use of a cascading style sheet from the internet, or any other source is considered cheating. JavaScript: Each team may utilize JavaScript in their website, provided the team writes the code during the competition. Use of premade JavaScript code from the internet or any other source is considered cheating. Accessibility: Each team website must meet the following accessibility guidelines: 1. If JavaScript is required for navigation, a non-script alternative navigation option (such as hyperlinks at the bottom of the page) must be included. 2. All images should be coded using the ALT attribute. 3. All text should be coded to allow resizing in the web browser. 4. Tables and frames may be used, but should be formatted so that Lynx can read them correctly. Browser Plug-Ins: Flash, Shockwave, Java, Silverlight, Air, and other technologies requiring plug-ins are not allowed. They will be ignored, and is considered cheating. Server Side Scripting: The only server-side scripting language allowed is PHP.

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Uploading: Each teams website must be uploaded via SFTP to the contest web server throughout the contest day for monitoring by the judges and for testing purposes. Each team will be provided access to an SFTP client, either as a standalone application (WinSCP), or as a built-in feature of the chosen web development application software. Testing: It is recommended that each team regularly view the latest revision of their website using Firefox and the URL provided for the teams website. This will ensure that the website files are named correctly, served correctly, and operate as expected. Website Submission: Each teams website will be served from the competition web server, and will be viewed throughout the day by the judges in order to monitor development. At the end of the web design period, teams will upload their final website version for judging. Reserved Rights: The decision of the judges is final. The judges reserve the right to modify the competition rules and/or submission procedures as deemed necessary should a technical issue arise during the competition. The judges reserve the right to view the workstation of each competing team either in person or via remote desktop monitoring software. The judges reserve the right to make clarifications with regards to the competition rules as deemed necessary. Frequently Asked Questions: Does the competition web server treat filenames as case-sensitive? o Yes. The files foo.html and FOO.HTML are treated as separate files. Can a team download, and/or install software on the competition computer? o No. That is considered cheating. Can a team bring a computer/laptop and use the software on that computer? o No. That is considered cheating. Can a team bring files on removable media (e.g. USB Flash Drive, CD, DVD)? o No. That is considered cheating. Can a team bring reference books to use? o No. The team can not bring reference books to use. That is considered cheating. Can teams use templates and cascading style sheets that were built by the team before the competition? o No. That is considered cheating. Can a team copy/reuse code from the internet or any other source? o No. That is considered cheating. The team may reference built-in help systems, and online references. But, may not copy the source code, even if it is free. This is a web design competition, not a copy and paste competition. Also, the purpose of a reference material is for when the team is having trouble implementing something, or checking to see if what is being attempted is even possible. Page 4 of 5

Frequently Asked Questions (continued): Can teams view the score sheets that are used for judging the websites? o No. Knowing the specific details as to what is checked for, what is not checked for, and what areas may be weighted, would constitute an unfair tailoring of website entries for judging. What if a team waits until the last minute to upload their website to the competition web server before judging, and the website doesnt work properly? o Only software and/or hardware issues will be addressed. o It is the responsibility of the team to regularly upload and test their website on the competition web server throughout the day in order to prevent unforeseen problems from building up just before the judging period. Also, it is a known requirement of web development, to have the ability to successfully upload the files necessary for the website to function properly. In this scenario, the teams website would be judged as is, and may suffer from point deductions for not functioning properly, or having missing content. Judging Criteria: 1. Content a. Relevance of content b. Accuracy of content c. Correct spelling and grammar d. Good use of content chunking i. Definition of Content Chunking: The method of presenting information which splits concepts into small pieces or "chunks" of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. e. Adherence to copyright laws (e.g. Content Attribution) 2. Aesthetics a. Visual appeal and style (color, contrast, fonts, white space) b. Consistent look and feel c. Readability d. Minimalist design (avoid extraneous information) 3. Design a. Adherence to HTML standards b. Effective navigation and working links c. Effective use of multimedia content (images, audio, video, animation, etc.) d. Browser compatibility 4. Usability and accessibility a. Written in users language b. Minimize users memory load c. Minimize required user actions d. Progressive exposition of levels of detail e. Navigation feedback mechanism f. Effective user guidance (help and error messages) g. Accessible for visually impaired users 5. Quality of a three-minute oral presentation on the website when submitting the website to the judges.

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