Graduate Certificate in Web Development - Front-End Design

Program Overview

This one-year (3 semesters) graduate certificate program will prepare learners to translate concepts and ideas into visual and functional interfaces, websites, applications and systems, both personal and professional. Front-End Developers focus on human-centred design to produce high-impact websites and apps that respond to the needs of a client — in sectors ranging from healthcare to fintech, retail to technology, and beyond.

The program establishes a new standard for application development with a core focus on five pillars:

• Accessible user interface design (“UI”)
• Intuitive user experience design (“UX”)
• Industry workflow and problem solving skills
• Full-stack application architecture
• Front-end development

This program has been designed to meet industry needs as application design and development remain critical skills within the rapidly evolving digital economy. Efficient and effective communication with stakeholders and audiences alike is needed in nearly every contemporary industry, from retail to marketing and beyond.

Graduates of the Web Development – Front-End Design program will have the theoretical and hands-on training to:

• Develop custom front-end interactive prototypes and solutions, using the latest techniques in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
• Integrate the latest libraries and frameworks to improve efficiency, while maximizing employability.
• Master the development workflow, including testing, debugging, documentation, bundling and deployment.
• Put user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design principles into practice.
• Apply knowledge from all levels of the design and development stack to create solutions that meet the requirements of a client brief.

Program Learning Outcomes

• The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:
  • Determine and document requirements for web computing projects based on the effective application of stakeholder needs.
  • Prepare and present proposals and business plans for web applications that satisfy stakeholder requirements.
  • Design, model, implement and optimize accessible web solutions to meet client requirements and constraints, and align with standards and best practices.
  • Design, model, implement, optimize and maintain databases to support data-driven solutions for web environments.
  • Implement a development process to support consistency between development platforms and production platforms.
  • Develop the appropriate information architecture in order to satisfy a broad range of requirements and enhance the user experience.
  • Apply project management concepts to web environment projects to ensure the effective management throughout the life cycle of the project.
  • Test, troubleshoot and debug web applications to support requirements and meet Quality Assurance objectives.
  • Communicate and collaborate with team members and stakeholders to ensure effective working relationships.
  • Evaluate proposed solutions to optimize and improve web applications based on usability testing and analysis.
  • Adhere to ethical, legal and regulatory requirements and/or principles to develop and manage web applications.
  • Select and apply strategies for personal and professional development to enhance work performance.
  • Use front-end frameworks to promote patterns of design and development that conform to the latest industry standards.
  • Create interactive experiences for various types of front-end interfaces or devices, with a focus on user-facing applications.