Adobe Certified Professional: What is on the Dreamweaver exam?

Adobe Certified Professional: What is on the Dreamweaver exam?

Adobe’s official exam guide for Dreamweaver lists the exam objectives, including key terms, concepts, tools, and settings that you need to know to pass the Adobe Certified Professional in Web Authoring Using Adobe Dreamweaver exam. In this article, we provide definitions of the terms and explanations of the concepts, tools, and settings in an effort to help you prepare for and pass the Adobe Dreamweaver certification exam.

Whether or not your goal is certification, if you’re interested in a Dreamweaver class for yourself or for your team, check out our Introduction to Dreamweaver Creative Cloud (CC) Training class.

Read on to learn what you need to know to pass the Adobe Certified Professional in Web Authoring Using Adobe Dreamweaver exam.

Working in the Web Industry

This objective covers critical concepts related to working with colleagues and clients as well as crucial legal, technical, and design-related knowledge.

  1. Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for websites.
    1. Determine whether content is relevant to the purpose, the audience, audience needs, user experience, and has an appropriate design for target devices.
      1. Key Terms
        1. client goals – What are the goals of your client? Why are they having you create this website?
        2. target audience – The group or groups of people your website is hoping to reach.
        3. demographics – The target audience can be defined in demographic terms (e.g., by age, gender, religion, geographic location, political affiliation, etc.).
        4. accessibility – You should understand that you and your client may be legally obligated to make your web pages accessible to people with various disabilities.
        5. technical limitations
        6. bandwidth
        7. browsers
        8. resolution
        9. user interface
        10. usability
        11. user experience
        12. business problem to be solved
        13. expected results
        14. response design
  2. Communicate with colleagues and clients throughout the project.
    1. Demonstrate knowledge of techniques for communicating ideas about expected outcomes with peers and clients.
      1. Key Terms
        1. design process
        2. sitemap
        3. mood boards
        4. style tiles
        5. storyboarding
        6. design comp
        7. sketches
        8. specifications
        9. wireframes
        10. prototypes
        11. iterations
        12. change orders
        13. drafts
        14. feedback loop
        15. project scope
        16. scope creep
        17. platform requirements
        18. code commenting
    2. Demonstrate knowledge of basic project management concepts.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. schedule
        2. budget
        3. project goals
        4. dependencies and prioritization
        5. proposal
        6. phased project planning
        7. completion benchmarks
        8. pair programming
        9. project documentation
        10. asset management
        11. naming conventions
        12. A/B testing
        13. test plan
        14. basic agile project management concepts
        15. cloud collaboration
        16. file management
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of the type of permissions required to use specific content.
    1. Identify legal and ethical considerations for using third-party assets such as copyright, permissions, and licensing.
      1. Key concepts
        1. Creative Commons
        2. public domain
        3. intellectual property
        4. derivative work
        5. commercial/non-commercial use
        6. attribution
        7. work for hire
        8. fair use/fair dealing
    2. Identify when and how to obtain permissions in order to use code and content.
      1. Key concepts
        1. model release
        2. location release
        3. media release
        4. restricted location
        5. stock assets
        6. frameworks
        7. code
        8. templates
        9. implications of using an asset hosted on a different site (hotlinking)
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of key technologies related to web design and development.
    1. Demonstrate fundamental knowledge of internet terminology.
      1. Key Terms
        1. accessibility
        2. absolute vs relative URL
        3. site architecture
        4. URL
        5. web servers
        6. TCP/IP
        7. FTP
        8. ISP
        9. bandwidth
        10. domain registration
        11. DNS
        12. web host
        13. localhost
    2. Demonstrate fundamental knowledge of search engines and search engine optimization.
      1. Key Terms
        1. SEO
        2. keywords
        3. metadata
        4. alternate text
        5. hierarchy
        6. back links
        7. best practices
        8. indexing and crawling
        9. sitemap
    3. Demonstrate fundamental knowledge of web security concepts.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Protocols (FTP/SFTP, HTTP/HTTPS, etc.)
        2. common malware types
        3. firewalls
        4. risk of linking to external content
        5. DDoS
        6. security needs
        7. file permissions
        8. authentication
        9. authorization
        10. spamming
        11. CAPTCHA
    4. Demonstrate knowledge of key web development concepts.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. use HTML for structure, use CSS for appearance
        2. use JavaScript for behavior, server-side languages, frameworks, responsive vs adaptive web design, etc.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the industry.
    1. Communicate visually using the elements and principles of design and common web design techniques.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. symmetry
        2. proximity
        3. continuity
        4. balance
        5. color theory
        6. typography
        7. grid system
        8. hierarchy
    2. Identify user experience design elements and practices.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. accessibility
        2. consistency
        3. user experience research
        4. Hick’s law
        5. Fitt’s law
        6. discoverability
        7. functionality
        8. aesthetics
    3. Identify elements of user interaction.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. navigation
        2. mouse input
        3. keyboard input
        4. touch input
        5. menus
        6. controls
        7. form elements
        8. feedback (tooltips and validation)

Project Setup and Interface

This objective covers the interface setup and program settings that assist in an efficient and effective workflow, as well as knowledge about managing digital assets for a site.

  1. Create a new site with the appropriate settings.
    1. Set appropriate options for defining a new site.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. root folder
        2. local/remote/testing sites
        3. server technology
        4. FTP settings
        5. cloaking
        6. version control
        7. check-in/check-out process
        8. GIT repositories
    2. Create a new page for specific project needs.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. starter templates
        2. customizing templates for a site
        3. DOCTYPE
        4. document titles
        5. frameworks
        6. Bootstrap
  2. Navigate, organize, and customize the application workspace.
    1. Identify and manipulate elements of the Dreamweaver interface.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Property Inspector
        2. toolbars
        3. Status bar
        4. Code view vs Design view vs Live view
    2. Organize and customize the workspace.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. tabbed documents
        2. showing, hiding, nesting, and docking panels
        3. saving and resetting workspaces
    3. Configure application preferences.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. New Document
        2. Code Hints
        3. Fonts
        4. Interface
        5. File Types and Editing
        6. Real-Time Preview
        7. Extract
        8. Site
        9. Linting
  3. Use non-visible design tools in the interface to aid in project workflow.
    1. Configure content viewing options.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. window size
        2. magnification
        3. orientation
        4. real-time preview
    2. Navigate a site.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. navigating folder directories
        2. nested folders
  4. Manage assets in a project.
    1. Add and organize assets.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Copying, pasting, moving, editing and deleting assets (images, colors, URLs, scripts, snippets, and media) using the Files panel
        2. Assets panel
        3. CC libraries
        4. extracting assets from .psd, etc.
    2. Configure assets in a project.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. compressing assets
        2. setting permissions
        3. managing local and remote files using the Files panel

Organizing Content on a Page

This objective covers document structure and responsive design.

  1. Organize page structure.
    1. View, edit, and manage the structure of a page.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. DOM panel
        2. DOM structure as it applies to element hierarchy (header, footer, nav, body, script, article, span, div)
        3. properly nesting elements
  2. Apply responsive and adaptive design concepts.
    1. Design a web page that works well on multiple devices.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. media queries
        2. breakpoints
        3. CSS measurement units
        4. designing for multiple devices (different viewport sizes)
        5. Bootstrap framework templates

Working with Code to Create and Modify Content

This objective covers core technologies used to create web content.

  1. Organize and display content using HTML.
    1. Identify the appropriate use of <html>, <head>, <body>, and <div> tags.
    2. Differentiate between block and inline elements.
    3. Format content using headings, paragraphs, and lists.
      1. Key Elements
        1. <h1> through <h6>
        2. <p>
        3. <ol>
        4. <ul>
        5. <li>
        6. <em>
        7. <strong>
        8. <br>
        9. <blockquote>
        10. <span>
    4. Insert and manipulate images, video, and sound, and animation.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Inserting images
        2. scaling images
        3. adding alt text for accessibility and search engine optimization
        4. inserting and configuring video and audio
      2. Key Elements
        1. <img>
        2. <video>
        3. <audio>
    5. Create, manage, and edit hyperlinks.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. internal
        2. external
        3. absolute
        4. relative
        5. email
        6. telephone
        7. named anchors
        8. target attribute
  2. Apply table and semantic elements to describe content.
    1. Display and organize information using tables.
      1. Key Elements
        1. <table>
        2. <tr>
        3. <td>
        4. <th>
        5. <thead>
        6. <tfoot>
    2. Display and organize information using other basic semantic elements.
      1. Key Elements
        1. <article>
        2. <aside>
        3. <nav>
        4. <section>
        5. <footer>
        6. <header>
        7. <main>
  3. Style a web page using CSS.
    1. Configure initial page properties.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Page Properties dialog
    2. Manage fonts.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. font-family
        2. default fonts
        3. page fonts
        4. font substitution list
    3. Create and manage CSS rules using the CSS Designer panel.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Sources, @Media, Properties, and Selectors sections
        2. enabling and disabling CSS rule properties, searching and filtering, etc.
    4. Create and use inline styles, internal styles, and external style sheets.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. Cascading order
        2. importing style sheets (@import)
    5. Create and modify selectors that reference specific HTML elements.
      1. Selector Types
        1. id
        2. class
        3. tag
        4. pseudo class
        5. group
        6. descendant
        7. child selectors
    6. Apply common CSS declarations.
      1. Key Declarations
        1. fonts
        2. backgrounds
        3. images
        4. colors
        5. box model
        6. width
        7. height
        8. positioning
        9. styles for button states
        10. tabs
        11. animated drop-down menus
    7. Organize a web page layout with relatively and absolutely positioned div tags and CSS styles.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. inserting a div tag in standard mode
        2. modifying div tag attributes
        3. displaying overlapping content on a web page using div tags
  4. Add interactivity using JavaScript.
    1. Create and manage forms.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. identifying which form inputs are appropriate for collecting various types of information
        2. inserting form elements on a page
        3. methods used to transmit form data (GET, POST, action attribute)
        4. data validation
    2. Add interactivity to a web page.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. HTML5 canvas
        2. JavaScript snippets

Publishing Digital Media

This objective covers saving and exporting entire documents in multiple formats and specific assets within the project.

  1. Prepare project for publishing.
    1. Set up for testing and publishing.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. local site
        2. remote site
        3. testing server
        4. web server
        5. file transfer protocols (FTP, local/network, Secure FTP, WebDav, RDS)
        6. managing assets, links, and files
    2. Check project for errors and project specifications.
      1. Key Concepts
        1. spell check
        2. creating a sitemap
        3. HTML validation
        4. usability and accessibility check
        5. cleanup HTML
        6. checking and updating links sitewide
        7. testing live site to validate links and media
        8. troubleshooting CSS issues by using visual aids
        9. previewing in browser
        10. Live View
        11. code validation
  2. Publish a web site.
    1. Save web pages.
      1. Key concepts
        1. Save vs Save as…
        2. file name and location
        3. Save as template
    2. Publish a live site.
      1. Key concepts
        1. Put/Get files to and from server
        2. Check-in/check-out for team projects
        3. refresh site files
        4. dependent/associated files
        5. cloaking files and folders
        6. synchronizing local and remote sites

That’s it!

It’s a lot, of course, but it’s what you need to know to pass the Dreamweaver certification exam. Best of luck!

Written by Nat Dunn. Follow Nat on Twitter.