2010 NCRE. WEB DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT. SAMPLE TEST

As previously stated in my first NCRE-related post (the one in Russian), I would like to start a discussion about the exam sample provided on the NCRE website this year and later this week maybe also discuss the actual exam. More precisely I would like to share my opinion about some of the technical essays and questions that I personally find quite difficult and extremely wide.

First essay

A. You have been asked to set up a new multilingual site under the United Nations main web site (www.un.org), on the issue of the Millennium Development Goals. What are the basic requirements for setting up such a site? Describe the steps involved in establishing the site from concept to launch, including the taxonomy of the site and its multilingual and accessibility aspects.

How does one set up a website? This one reminds me of times when I used to spend nights looking for free web hostings and then struggled to find cheap DNS registrars (even if they were 3rd level ones) to get a nice compelling website name. Basically to tackle this question I would start by describing all the aspects of getting your website's code online:

• Arrange file hosting and set the overall working environment (make sure the responsible service makes the necessary: backup, versionning, project's CMS...)
• Discuss the domain name (un.org/name or name.un.org? + implications/considerations)

Afterwards, I would start talking about the actual system and the design/development choices to make. Are we gonna use an existing (custom or COTS) framework? Are there any coding conventions already available (gently introduce the i18n, L10n, m17n concepts and discuss whichever fits)? Taxonomy (general navigation considerations)? Are we supposed (very probably yes) to be accessible on platforms other than standard PCs (--> accessibility issues)?

A lot of topics to discuss thus. I would put it all out.

Second essay

B. A developer has been engaged to set up a database driven web site in which content is to be entered via a web-based form into a MS-SQL Database. The publicfacing web pages for retrieving the data and populating a template would be in .ASP. The Web Server being used is Apache running on a Sun Solaris Operating System. Draw a flow chart to illustrate the set-up. Would the developer need any additional software to complete the development of the proposed site? If so, what is required, and where would it be in the dataflow?

Discussion

Third essay

C. You are the Manager of the United Nations web site, which comprises of a number of sub-sites, in the six official languages, with information prepared and produced by different Departments. You have been asked by senior Management to devise and establish a clear, coherent, workable and acceptable governance mechanism for the entire site which will take into account the different needs of the content-providing

Departments which maintaining a degree of centralization so that institutional branding is not compromised. Prepare an outline for this governance mechanism setting out responsibilities of contentproviders, the technical group and the management group.

There is a very detailed article on wikipedia that pretty much says it all about the website governance. No comments.

Question1

What is a Content Management System? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Describe the underlying technology of a Content Management System – how content is entered, stored and displayed.

Discussion

Question2

Briefly describe what is meant by the following terms:

a. Hits to a website

b. Page-views to a web site

c. Unique visitors to a web site

d. 404

e. SHTML

f. XML

Discussion

Question3

What is streaming media? What are the main formats of streaming media that are currently in use on the Internet? Discuss the relative advantages of each of the formats over the others.

Discussion

Question4

Create a basic HTML page which will use JavaScript code embedded into the page that will display the day, date and time on the top left corner of the web page. Write out the entire HTML code for the page including the JavaScript element.

Discussion

Question5

Are there any differences in the way the major Internet browsers display HTML content? Describe how Internet Explorer, Firefox (Mozilla), Opera may display the same content differently. What does a developer need to keep in mind when creating web pages so as to ensure that these pages will display as intended in all the major browsers?

Discussion

Question6

What are the image formats that can be displayed on a web browser? What are some formats that cannot be used on a web page? Explain which format is best suited to display each of the following and why:

A colour photograph on a web page;

A two-colour navigation button.

Discussion

Question7

What is UTF-8? Under what circumstances would you recommend using UTF-8? Is there an alternative to it that will serve the same purpose?

Discussion

Question8

What is a cookie? When and why are they used? Describe a situation when using a cookie or cookies could enhance user experience. How can cookies on a website provide improved user analysis?

Discussion

PS. I will try to populate all the discussions so that this page stays up-to-date in the future