Women web designers offered free skills boost

From MySite

Press release: Monday 23th July 2007

Women web designers offered free skills boost

The UK web media industry is booming again, but experienced staff are in short supply and men still outnumber women in this sector where creativity is to the fore.

The Digital Women’s Club is a new government-backed initiative trying to remedy this situation, offering free, digital training to women living in London.

The web design courses are intensive classes, running from August to September, geared to women with some basic web design experience who are looking to deepen their skills and boost their opportunities in this thriving and dynamic sector.

It's equally about making your CV stand out in an employer’s mailbox and being aware of challenges the industry is facing.

Three practical 1-week daytime courses are offered, and participants can apply to one specialist topic. Led by experienced industry professionals, they cover three skill-sets that are much in demand: Flash ActionScript, Web Accessibility and CSS, and Project Management.

Hands-on training plus networking in the Internet age

The courses are followed up with project development and assessment period and topped off with an evening session focused on business networking – tips on the art of marketing yourself to make the most of the exciting career options in web design and management.

Part-employed and unemployed women and female graduates are entitled to partake in this innovative scheme that is geared both to help participants realise their ambitions and to introduce more female talent into the industry.

An applicant said: "I'd like to say I think this programme is a really wonderful scheme. It's not often you find courses in the graphics or web industry with a priority to develop women. Allocating a budget for childcare really shows your understanding and commitment to this. Impressive!"

Course co-ordinator Sophie Coudray of web design agency Antersite Ltd explained: “The career opportunities offered by the web industry are immense and truly exciting, but there is little in the way of hands-on, up-to-date training in the fields of web design and project management.

“We’re committed to giving more women the chance to tap into the wealth of career options that are out there by giving them a solid grounding in these key areas. This is a great chance to build up a commercial portfolio and learn from some expert practitioners in the business.”

“We’ve also opened out to social networks online, and have started a Facebook group for the Digital Women’s Club at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2385879176 ”

The courses are held at London Met’s business development arm Accelerator in their state-of-the-art Shoreditch building, on Kingsland Rd, and are run in partnership with CIDA for the Digital Women's Club http://www.digitalwomensclub.com, co-funded by the London Development Agency and European Social Fund.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Three one-week courses run in August with a follow-up project assessment day for each in September:

(1) Flash ActionScript (Mon 6 to Fri 10 August, Thu 6 September)

(2) Web Accessibility and CSS (Mon 13 to Fri 17 August, Thu 13 September)

(3) Project Management (Mon 20 to Fri 17 August, Thu 20 September)

Evening session on networking and creative personal marketing:

Work That Space - The art of social networking (Thu 27 September – date TBC)

CONTACT:

For more information, contact Course Co-ordinator Sophie Coudray, Director, Antersite Ltd

T: 020 7377 1345.

E: info@antersite.co.uk