At my workplace, our graphic designer also handles web design, but they have limited knowledge of web design principles. As a result, the wireframing and prototyping stages take much longer because I have to leave extensive Figma feedback about feasibility, accessibility, redundancy, responsive behavior, and general usability. They're experienced with branding, brochures, and other print materials, but took on web design after our previous web designer left. Are there any practical courses or certifications that could help them learn web UI/UX fundamentals and accessibility best practices?
3 Answers
Since their background is mainly print and branding, look for training specifically covering interaction design, responsive web layouts, usability testing, design systems, and accessibility rather than a purely visual design certification. Wireframes aren’t just illustrations; they need to account for content structure, user tasks, behavior, and technical limitations.
A good starting point would be a course focused on WCAG and accessible interface design. It should cover keyboard navigation, focus states, color contrast, semantic structure, form labels, error handling, and responsive layouts. Those topics will directly improve the quality of their wireframes and prototypes.
Even a small HTML and CSS exercise can make web constraints much easier to understand. Building a simple landing page or form exposes issues that aren’t obvious in a static design, such as responsive breakpoints, awkward layouts, and keyboard navigation. If time is limited, a short accessibility course plus basic HTML/CSS lessons would still be useful.
That makes sense, although they currently don’t know enough HTML or CSS to build something independently. I’ll start by looking for an accessible design course and treat basic coding as a longer-term goal.
Exactly. Strong print design skills are valuable, but web design adds interaction, responsive behavior, accessibility, and implementation concerns that need to be learned separately.