Which NYC area colleges and Universities are teaching valid hand marked-up xhtml and css in their web design courses?

November 17, 2009 7:21 AM

Which (if any) NYC area colleges and Universities are teaching valid hand marked-up xhtml and css in their web design courses?

I am trying to find a freelancer or small firm to take over a dating website redesign for a client in the NYC/NJ area. The back-end is/will be Cold Fusion (this is the only option as far as the client is concerned) and the front end styles and all formatting will be implemented using style sheets and fully accessible xhtml. I am having trouble finding an entry level designer who not only has the proper skill set, but who also understands why it is important that their code validates.
The best option seems to be to advertise this job on various area school's alumni and/or student job boards, but if the state university that I am currently a grad student at is any indication, not all web design courses and digital design concentrations teach much beyond WYSIWYG dreamweaver classes, and the computer science classes don't address user interface design and css much, if at all.
Is anyone here familiar enough with the design programs at other schools (Pratt, Parsons, SVA, Rutgers, etc.) that they might suggest the best programs and career services offices for me to contact?

posted by stagewhisper to Computers & Internet (1 answer total)

Best answer: Hire a College of NJ grad. As of a few years ago, they still had an actual computer science program, producing BAs skillful enough to already understand the why of all this and pick up the rest of the how on the way. They even had a full multimedia design major program, which, while I did not participate in it (was CS), I knew was reasonably comprehensive and taught students actual UI design as well as proficiency with illustrator/photoshop/fireworks/flash.
posted by judge.mentok.the.mindtaker at 9:08 AM on November 17, 2009