DMU is working with D2N2 to deliver the new Skills Bootcamps on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE) as part of its Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs.

If you are a student, unemployed or self-employed, this course is free.

If you are employed, then the cost is met by your employer. SMEs (businesses with less than 250 staff) only pay 10% plus VAT. If you work for a large company (over 250 people) then it is 30% plus VAT.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to find out more.

Classes take place on Monday afternoons online and on campus at De Montfort University. The course is taught over 12 weeks, beginning October 24.

Every week, you'll get a live lesson, plus access to an online support group where you can pose questions and meet with other learners, and get access to extra resources. There will also be the opportunity to watch again recordings of each week's lesson.

• Training in person, led by our subject matter experts. You'll have 12 classes of practical training and a certificate of attendance after you complete the course
• Weekly classes take place on Monday afternoons and are recorded, so you can catch up or go over elements as needed
• Videos can be watched late but you need to have watched the recording within a week of the class so you are able to keep up with the content
• Ongoing communications and support online
• Optional and practical workshops to help you develop CV and interview techniques which can help you turn your new skills into a new career
• You'll also learn the intangibles from industry experts who provide tips on soft skills and personal experiences, to better understand the demands of the web industry

• Learn the basics of coding languages such as HTML and JavaScript
• Recognise and edit simple code
• Customise content in content management systems such as WordPress
• Perform simple web edits by yourself such as changing copy, replacing images and creating new pages
• Understand how to get the most out of your website and connect it to your social media channels

HTML is the principle language of the web, used to describe the content on a webpage. This first session will introduce you to how it works and how to get going creating a webpage from scratch. We’ll look at what HTML is, how to write it, and how to make sure your webpage displays properly on mobile screens as well as desktops.

Topics include:

• What is HTML? (inc. structure of an HTML element)
• Using Visual Studio
• Starter code
• Making a page mobile friendly
• Viewing as a mobile site
• HTML Elements
• Ordered and unordered lists
• Headings
• HTML Comments

Browsers will display HTML elements according to a set of basic style rules. However, with CSS we can change this in order to develop a look and feel for our website that is uniquely ours. In this session we’ll look at what CSS is, how it works, and do some basic styling of a webpage.

Topics include:

• Changing the appearance of things - CSS
• Selecting elements to style
• Specifying colour
• Basic text styling
• Basic element styling

Text is great, but images, videos, and audio can really bring your message to life. This week we’ll focus on how you can add media elements to your page in a way that works across different browsers.

Topics include:

• The Chrome Developer Tools
• How to specify file locations
• The Image element
• The Audio Element
• The Video Element

CSS is a powerful tool for changing the style of your website. In this session we’ll build on what
we’ve done so far to introduce more complex ways to customise the look and feel of your site.
Topics include:

• Using class and id to specify elements to style
• Background images

By and large the browser will lay your elements out top-to-bottom. However, we often want to
change this, to place elements side-by-side, or change the spacing around them. In this session
we’ll look at how the browser deals with positioning and what you can do to change the way it positions elements on your page.

Topics include:

• The box model
• Floating elements
• Repositioning elements

People will be looking at your website on a wide range of devices, from wide screen computer monitors to small smartphones. Sometimes we need to be able to specify a layout that can adapt to these different screen sizes. In this session we'll look at two methods that can help you achieve a layout that does this.

Topics include:

• The Flexible Box Model
• Responsive design

Movement and animation on a webpage can be used to help build a sense of identity, direct a user's attention, and help them to understand what's going on. In this session we'll look at how you can use CSS to make things change over time.

Topics include:

• CSS transitions
• Keyframe Animations

HTML and CSS can be used to create a great looking website that's largely static. JavaScript is a programming language that can introduce a greater level of interactivity and reactivity to your website. We can automate slideshows, show pop-ups and lightboxes, react to events and more. In this session we’ll look at the basics of JavaScript so that you can start to understand how it works and what it looks like.

Topics include:

• How to include JavaScript in your page
• Variables for storing data, like a score
• Referencing HTML elements so we can do stuff with what's on the page
• Functions, so we can package bits of code together
• Events, so we can respond to things that happen

You might want to include some code that somebody else has written on your website. For example, you might want a countdown timer to show the time left of a sale, or a slideshow of product photos, or a lightbox that shows off an image with added detail when the user clicks a thumbnail. In this session we’ll look at some examples of third-party code, how to integrate them with your site, and how you might adapt the way they look and work to fit your own needs.

Topics include:

• Some common use cases
• Integrating third-party code into your website
• Adapting the code

WordPress is an incredibly popular and free content management system. You can use it to create your whole website without thinking about the underlying code. In this session we'll look at how to get started with it.

Topics include:

• Installing and setting up WordPress
• Adding and editing pages

Although WordPress can do all the heavy lifting for you, you might find you want to customise some aspects your site that require a digging a little deeper. In this session we'll look at how you can customise your chosen theme using custom CSS and HTML.

Topics include:

• Inspecting your code to identify changes to make
• Adding custom code blocks
• Custom CSS in WordPress

In this final session we'll look at how you can integrate your social media channels into your website. You might want an array of follow buttons, or to display your Instagram feed on your site. We'll finish with a wrap up recap of the 12 weeks and discuss next steps.

Topics include:

• Adding social media plugins.
• Customising social media plugins