The PG25187 Certificate in Advanced Web Design sits at NFQ Level 6. It’s a Minor Award, but it feels bigger than that when you get into it. The programme is built around one simple idea — that good web design in Ireland now means being accessible, secure, and performant, not just visually tidy.
It mixes creative work with a fair bit of technical discipline. Students come out able to build, test, and maintain modern WordPress sites using semantic HTML5, responsive CSS, and up-to-date accessibility practice under WCAG 2.2 AA. There’s also coverage of Core Web Vitals, privacy under GDPR, and design ethics.
To be fair, the web field here moves quickly. Employers, charities, and small agencies expect graduates who can meet compliance standards as naturally as they pick a colour palette. This course tries to balance that — some theory, yes, but mostly reproducible practice that holds up in audits.
Learners are expected to:
build accessible layouts that respect colour contrast and keyboard navigation;
understand UX and SEO as part of one workflow;
test performance and security using real tools;
manage data safely following Privacy by Design ideas;
and present design outcomes that are measurable, not just pretty.
So it turned out the main aim is confidence — to work independently on small Irish projects while still understanding how bigger professional standards fit together.
Assignment Type: Continuous Assessment (20 %) — Formal academic section
Continuous Assessments, or CA components, test how well a learner can apply formal web standards without guessing. The work must be repeatable and proven through evidence. It is evident that high-scoring submissions include real screenshots, test outputs, and traceable steps — not just claims of compliance.
Good CA evidence usually shows a few things working together:
| Criterion | How it appears in a solid submission | 
|---|---|
| Standards awareness | Each fix is linked directly to WCAG 2.2 AA or WAI-ARIA roles, with HTML5 semantics checked through the validator. | 
| Reproducible method | Steps numbered, dates noted, same test repeated after edits. | 
| Proof of change | Before/after Lighthouse or axe scores with short notes explaining the gain. | 
| Irish compliance | GDPR and cookie banners documented; privacy text clear. | 
| Change history | Simple table or repo log showing what changed, when, and why. | 
In practice, one strong example was compressing large hero images and adding loading="lazy". The Largest Contentful Paint dropped from 3.1 seconds to 2.4. The CA report didn’t just state it — it showed the screenshots and numbers.
validate HTML and CSS through W3C tools;
recheck colour contrast ≥ 4.5 : 1;
Run Lighthouse and axe before/after every fix;
record any GDPR notices or cookie policy updates;
Attach time-stamped screenshots.
That mix of audit, proof, and reflection usually covers the 20 % weighting nicely. It’s not about quantity; it’s about showing the method can be repeated by someone else tomorrow.
Assignment Type: Skills Demonstration (80 %) — Applied reflective section
The Skills Demonstration carries the heavier weight, 80 %. It’s where design work meets practice. I had to put all the standards into real WordPress builds — no hiding behind theory. Every artefact showed a small story: what was broken, what I tried, what improved.
Accessibility audit report (Lighthouse + axe DevTools).
UX testing pack (consent form, tasks, System Usability Scale).
SEO log with keyword map and Core Web Vitals tracking.
GDPR-compliant contact form and data table module.
Theme and navigation decision matrix.
Deployment and backup checklist (HTTPS and roles).
Content inventory with governance schedule.
Short reflection on ethical and sustainable design.
Mistakes happened — a plugin conflict here, a colour contrast miss there — but fixing them became the learning evidence.
Accessibility risk: keyboard trap in modal window → checked with NVDA, added focus management.
Data risk: contact form collecting extra fields → trimmed to name + email, kept for 30 days only.
Performance: plugin bloat → replaced five with two multi-purpose ones.
Quality assurance: errors after update → used staging and manual re-test checklist.
The Skills Demonstration turned out to be less about fancy visuals and more about proof of practice — each correction backed by data or a screen recording. That’s the point of NFQ Level 6 work: competence shown through evidence, not guessing.
The first activity focused on accessibility. My baseline Lighthouse score sat around 78 / 100, so plenty to do. Using axe DevTools and NVDA, I mapped each issue to WCAG 2.2 AA.
export baseline report;
list issues against WCAG refs;
Choose the fix order by user impact.
apply changes on staging;
rerun tests and note residual risks.
| Issue | WCAG Ref | Impact | Fix | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Missing alt text on hero image | 1.1.1 | Screen reader says “image” only. Context lost. | Added concise alt descriptions in Media Library. | 
| “Click here” links | 2.4.4 | Users can’t predict the destination. | Changed to contextual phrases like “View Design Guidelines”. | 
| Form error feedback is not linked | 3.3.1 / 4.1.2 | Screen reader skips message. | Used aria-describedbyandrole="alert". | 
| Button contrast 3.5: 1 | 1.4.3 | Hard to see in sunlight. | Darkened blue tone to #004085 on #CCE5FF. | 
Lighthouse jumped to 97 / 100. NVDA testing showed smooth tab order and working skip links. One minor residual risk remained around third-party iframes, logged for future action. So it turned out the real lesson was how fast small changes can improve real access for users with screen readers.
Next came user testing. Six participants helped, from college students to a local shop owner who uses her phone for everything. Each had five tasks — find contact details, submit a form, navigate the menu, and so on.
Devices: two desktops, two mobiles, two tablets.
Metrics: time to complete, errors, and SUS score.
Ethics: signed GDPR consent forms, anonymised notes.
| Participant | Success % | Avg Time (s) | SUS / 100 | Notable observation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 100 | 52 | 85 | No confusion. Navigation clear. | 
| P2 | 80 | 71 | 78 | Hover state is hard to see. | 
| P3 | 100 | 48 | 90 | Mobile layout is excellent. | 
| P4 | 80 | 74 | 76 | FAQ too long. | 
| P5 | 100 | 56 | 88 | Validation messages helped. | 
| P6 | 100 | 61 | 82 | Contrast fix noticed. | 
Average SUS = 83 → rated “excellent”. After tweaks (accordion FAQ, stronger hover contrast, extra white space), a small re-test pushed it to 86.
The SEO section combined content design and technical tuning. I built a keyword map linking queries to pages and measured Core Web Vitals before and after.
| Search Query | Intent | Target URL | Title / Meta Example | 
|---|---|---|---|
| “affordable web design Ireland” | transactional | /services/web-design/ | Affordable Web Design in Ireland – Fast and Accessible | 
| “WCAG 2.2 WordPress tips” | informational | /blog/wcag-2-2-wordpress/ | WordPress Accessibility Guidelines 2025 | 
| “Core Web Vitals audit tool” | research | /tools/core-web-vitals/ | Core Web Vitals Audit for Irish SMEs | 
Titles kept under 60 characters and descriptions under 155. Yoast helped check readability and keyword density (about 1 %).
| Metric | Before | After | Tool | 
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP | 3.0 s | 2.2 s | Lighthouse | 
| INP | 260 ms | 185 ms | Chrome UX Report | 
| CLS | 0.22 | 0.08 | Web Vitals Extension | 
The largest gain came from lazy-loading images and minifying JS. All the same, content clarity helped as much as code did. Monthly Search Console checks were scheduled to watch ranking and click-through trends.
This activity focused on creating forms and tables that actually work for people, not just look fine on screen. In practice, this meant thinking about both usability and GDPR from the start rather than patching it later.
I tested a few WordPress form plugins — WPForms, Contact Form 7, and Gravity Forms. Each had strengths. Gravity Forms handled conditional logic best, but WPForms felt lighter and cleaner for accessibility. So I settled on WPForms.
added visible labels, never placeholders only;
linked error text using aria-describedby;
keyboard focus order tested with NVDA;
validation both client- and server-side;
cookie and consent notice embedded below the submit button;
confirmation message styled with role="alert" for screen readers.
GDPR took extra care. No unnecessary personal data — just name, email, and short message. The submission stored for 30 days then auto-deleted. The privacy policy explained that clearly.
I used TablePress for static data and DataTables for interactive lists. Responsive tables were tricky, to be fair. Long columns broke the layout on smaller phones. The fix was to stack key fields vertically using CSS Grid and hide minor columns with a toggle.
Accessibility quick-check:
headers defined with <th scope="col">;
captions summarised content;
colour never used alone for meaning;
tested sorting via keyboard.
| Issue | Risk | Control | 
|---|---|---|
| Missing input labels | Form inaccessible to screen readers | Added explicit <label for>tags | 
| Consent unchecked by default | Breach of GDPR principle | Default unchecked; clear wording | 
| Table overflow on small screens | Layout breaks, poor UX | CSS Grid wrap + “show more” toggle | 
Choosing a WordPress theme can look easy until performance starts dropping. I compared three: Astra, GeneratePress, and Kadence. Astra won mainly for speed and solid accessibility markup out of the box.
| Criterion | Astra | GeneratePress | Kadence | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessibility readiness | 4.5/5 | 4.0/5 | 4.2/5 | 
| Performance (PageSpeed) | 95 | 92 | 89 | 
| Customisation ease | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 5/5 | 
| Community support | strong | fair | good | 
Menus followed the information architecture I’d mapped earlier. Primary nav kept to six top-level items, each word plain English — “Services”, “Portfolio”, not “Our Awesome Creations”. Submenus tested for keyboard use; focus indicators made bright blue for visibility.
Widgets came next. I nearly overdid them, honestly. Too many slows things down. In the end, I kept only:
Search
Recent Posts
Contact Info
Each widget area had an aria-label describing purpose. Sidebar order tested with NVDA to ensure logical reading flow.
Adding a testimonials slider sounded nice, butit hurt Largest Contentful Paint. It jumped from 2.2 s to 3.0 s. Removing it dropped back to 2.3 s. So it turned out that minimalism helped both speed and clarity.
This section pulled everything together: hosting, security, and backups. I used a low-cost Irish host that supports Let’s Encrypt SSL, PHP 8.2, and daily backups.
Registered domain via Blacknight.
Installed WordPress 6.6 using one-click installer.
Forced HTTPS and HSTS header.
Created staging subdomain for testing.
Installed essentials:
Yoast SEO
WPForms
UpdraftPlus (backups)
WP Super Cache
Limit Login Attempts Reloaded
Configured user roles with least privilege — only one admin, others as editors.
Automated nightly backup to Google Drive.
Permalinks cleaned to “post name” structure.
| Item | Status | Notes | 
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS enforced | ✔ | tested with SSL Labs A+ | 
| Backup verified | ✔ | restore tested successfully | 
| Plugin updates | ongoing | check weekly | 
| Site performance | 94 / 100 | minor CLS shifts only | 
| Privacy notice | ✔ | cookie policy linked in footer | 
One plugin conflicted with caching, breaking dynamic forms. Took me two hours of trial and rollback to spot it. Disabling object caching fixed the glitch. That moment drove home why change logs matter.
Before pushing the site live, I stepped back to look at the structure. A clear information architecture keeps both users and Google happy.
Communicate services quickly.
Keep content under three clicks deep.
Support accessibility by a consistent layout.
Plan updates monthly for freshness.
Aoife, 28, freelance photographer; cares about image loading speed.
Liam, 41, small business owner; needs clear contact routes.
Sara, 19, student; browses mostly on mobile.
Straightforward, nothing fancy. The point was predictability.
| Page | Owner | Status | SEO Target | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | me | done | “web design Ireland” | 
| Services | me | draft | “accessible WordPress design” | 
| Blog | me | active | long-tail queries | 
| Privacy Policy | auto-generated | verified | “GDPR websites Ireland” | 
Each page is stored in a Notion tracker with review dates. That became the governance cadence — monthly checks for broken links, performance, and copy tone.
This final activity pulled together human-centred design principles. The goal was to see UX not just as a phase but as a loop — test, measure, iterate.
| Principle | Applied Example | 
|---|---|
| Findability | Search bar in header, breadcrumb trail on posts. | 
| Feedback | Visual confirmation on form submit; 2-second toast message. | 
| Affordance | Buttons looked like buttons, not plain text. | 
| Consistency | Same menu labels across desktop and mobile. | 
| Tolerance | Undo link after form submission error. | 
Accessibility overlapped everywhere: keyboard nav, ARIA landmarks, logical tab order. Ethics showed up in data handling — minimal retention, transparent privacy text. Sustainability mattered too. Images compressed to ≤ 200 KB; dark mode reduced screen energy use a bit.
Test the prototype with five users.
Record feedback and metrics.
Apply design adjustments.
Retest two scenarios after a week.
Each cycle revealed tiny gains — e.g., 0.1 s faster input response, better comprehension score. All the same, it’s the mindset that counts more than the numbers.
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