Capstone Guidelines

ACC References

Capstone course description

Links to previous capstone projects

Individual Roles

Student: The student is the central role for the capstone project. This course is essentially self-study, with the student demonstrating the ability to develop a professional-grade website. The student is responsible for finding a suitable project and for implementing all aspects of the design to the satisfaction of his/her client and mentor.

Client: Just as in a professional design relationship, the client provides the broad requirements for the project. The student is expected to work with the client to further define these requirements and to develop an suitable website to meet the client's needs.

Mentor: The mentor acts as a sounding board for the student, providing suggestions and feedback throughout the project, and is responsible for granting final approval. The mentor is not expected to teach concepts to the student that should have been covered in previous coursework but he or she may provide additional expertise or instruction if required by the project.

General Sequence

Here is a general sequence of events for the capstone course:

1. Student contacts mentor
2. Student contacts prospective client(s) to gather high level project information
3. Student reviews potential projects with mentor
4. Student selects project
5. Student and client define project goals and high level schedule
6. Student seeks mentor's approval to begin project
7. Student revises project goals/schedule if necessary
8. Student works on project implementation
9. Student reviews project with mentor at least 2 times during the implementation
10. Student implements any necessary corrections or additions
11. Student completes project to client's approval
12. Student seeks mentor's approval of project completion
13. Student implements any necessary corrections or additions
14. Mentor submits project to program coordinator

Initial Contact

When you first contact your mentor, you should be sure to provide the following information:

• Which courses you still need to complete in the program and when you expect to complete them
• Which track you are under (design or systems)
• When you plan to enroll in the capstone course
• When you hope to complete the project
• Ideas or interests you have for your project

Selecting a Client

It is preferred that the project be for a non-profit organization, although small businesses are also acceptable. On rare occasions I will approve projects done for the student's own business or organization, but I feel strongly that it is best to have a third party client involved in the capstone project. Part of the capstone experience is learning to elicit requirements from your client and negotiate acceptable solutions. That is not possible if there is not a third party client.

I generally recommend that you seek out a non-profit organization to work with based on your personal interests and activities. Common selections are churches and neighborhood associations. For a list of many non-profit and service groups in the Austin area, check out the Main.org website.

If you are more interested in working with a small business, I suggest contacting some of the small business groups in the area, such as a chamber of commerce.

I do occasionally hear about businesses and organizations looking for help with their websites and I have collected those inquiries for students to review. I do not endorse any of the businesses or imply that the projects outlined are sufficient for a capstone project, but it is a place to start. If one (or more) of these projects sounds interesting, please follow up with the contact person to further define the project information.

Project Requirements

Here is the general requirement put forth in the course description for the capstone project:

"Ideally, the webmaster student should find a non-profit organization for which to build a website that meets that organization's needs. The capstone project should reflect tasteful, intelligent web-page design, using headings, lists, alternate fonts and type sizes, color, graphics, links, tables, and style sheets. The project should include multimedia (audio, video, or animated graphics) and interactive elements, the latter powered by Perl, JavaScript, or Java code that the student has written or substantially modified. (No classroom meetings; one-on-one with mentor.)"

Here are my additional comments on what I expect from a capstone project:

• I realize that many/most designers today use design applications such as Dreamweaver. I do need to feel confident, however, that you are fully comfortable with hand-coding HTML.
• Be sure to analyze the audience for your project website and take into consideration their background and needs.
• All capstone projects should contain design work, but students in the design track are expected to show a higher degree of design sophistication, such as using custom-designed graphics instead of clipart.
• All capstone projects should contain some amount of interactivity or multimedia. Projects for systems track students, though, should have considerably more in the way of advanced CGI scripts or other custom-developed interactivity. Not all clients request interactivity, but in order for a project to be sufficient for your capstone, this element needs to be there. Encourage your client to think outside the box and come up with ways to incorporate interactivity into the site. You might find it useful to browse script repositories such as the Perl Archive in order to see the different ways interactivity can be incorporated into a site.
• A particular nit pick of mine is site navigation. Be sure that your navigation is well thought-out and consistent.
• Another area to pay special attention to is site accessibility. Ensure that all graphics have appropriate ALT tags defined and that text only browsers will have a way to navigate your site. An interesting reference is Bobby WorldWide, which checks web pages for accessibility.
• Pay attention to load time. A useful site to reference is Website Garage, which can evaluate load time and help you to optimize your image size.

Setting a Schedule

The capstone project should generally take 2-3 months to complete. However, you should expect to initially spend several weeks researching and evaluating potential projects. Once the project is selected and approved, you need to establish a high-level schedule that is acceptable to both your client and your mentor.

I strongly encourage you to spend at least two weeks defining the project requirements with your client and mentor. It is extremely important that your client and you agree on what the ultimate result of the project should be, and the best time to iron that out is up front. It is also important that your mentor understand exactly what you plan to do with your project. Be sure to thoroughly document these requirements and revisit them during the course of the project to ensure they are being adequately addressed.

The schedule should include several interim checkpoints with your client, and at least two checkpoints where your mentor can review your project and offer suggestions and comments. You should also allow about two weeks at the end of the schedule to review the project with your mentor and implement any required changes.

Here is a general guideline for your entire project schedule: