Website Authoring

This module covers the web page side of practical ICT work: structuring a small page with HTML, styling it with a stylesheet, linking pages together, placing images with correct sizes and descriptions, and using tables properly. Tasks usually give you invented source files and ask you to build or fix a page that meets a list of requirements.

It follows images, layout and styles, because image proportion and consistent styling apply on the web as well. Check the current Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 syllabus page for the exact web authoring skills for your exam year, as the wording and expected tools can change between versions.

What should you already be able to do?

You need to save files into named folders, rename them and open a plain text file. You also need to know the difference between a file name and a file path. If that is unclear, revisit file organisation and evidence first.

One orienting example

An invented school club, the Demo Photo Club, supplies this folder:

club/
  index.html
  style.css
  pages/
    events.html
  images/
    hall.jpg

The task: show hall.jpg on events.html, link back to the home page, and use the same heading colour on both pages.

Three things must be right together. The image path from inside pages/ is ../images/hall.jpg, the link home is ../index.html, and both pages need a stylesheet link with the path adjusted for the folder each page sits in. For events.html that link is <link rel="stylesheet" href="../style.css">.

A page can pass one of these checks and fail another, which is why the lessons are taught separately.

In what order should you study the lessons?

Structure a small original page with semantic HTML: every later skill sits on a correct page skeleton.
Use a stylesheet for consistent presentation: one rule changes every page that links to it.
Create a working relative link: paths decide whether links and images survive a move.
Size an image with meaningful alternative text: proportion from the earlier module, plus a description for readers who cannot see the picture.
Check required table or layout features without obsolete assumptions: requirement-based checking in place of old habits.

Then work through the mixed practice set. The ICT practical task and evidence checker helps you confirm that each requirement in a brief has evidence in your files.

Which traps catch students most often?

Choosing a heading level because of how big it looks instead of where it sits in the structure.
Typing styling into every element instead of one stylesheet rule.
Using a full computer path such as C:\Users\... in a link, which only works on one machine.
Setting both width and height on an image without checking the original ratio.
Writing alternative text such as “image” or the file name.
Using a table to position the whole page instead of to show rows and columns of data.

How should you use the practice set?

Attempt each question on paper, or in your own invented files, before opening the working. Log every slip in the mistake log and retest queue and retest it two days later. Tuition for the whole subject is described on our ICT tuition page.