Top 45 Web design interview questions for freshers

Web designing is now among the most promising professions, primarily because companies now focus on their digital image. This is why we see a significant requirement for a candidate with the right skills and quality knowledge. Landing a job in this field has become difficult in the past few years because of high competition. Regardless of whether you are just starting your career as a web designer, or you are familiar with the concepts at an intermediate or even an advanced level, this guide by an expert from web designing institute in Delhi will help you prepare for various job interviews. Below are the top 45 most important questions that recruiters may ask a fresher candidate in a web design job interview. Practice these questions and improve your chances of getting the job you want.

Top 45 Web design interview questions for freshers

1. What is HTML, and why is it important in web development?

The most frequently asked question in junior web designer interviews. Every web designer must know these languages.

• HTML: HTML is a hypertext markup language where the code required for the overall layout and structure of the site is structured.
• CSS: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) apply styles to the web page in a more amplified way. It enables consistent designs on layouts and style aspects to create easy designs across the internet.
• JavaScript: This language is used to improve the website’s responsiveness.
• PHP: Programming languages/ software: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) – This is a new-age scripting language that is used in the development of dynamic Websites/ web applications. This language is used on the server side.

2. What is the importance of responsive web design?

The concept of Responsive web design is often asked in a web designer interview. It makes sure that rendered web pages adapt themselves perfectly to different resolutions of the screen without stretching. Responsive pages work on all screen sizes, including all the details and options are preserved. This design approach uses HTML and CSS to function properly on the client end.

Responsive web design is important because users access web pages through various devices. An un-interactive page results in a negative impression with visitors leaving the site, increasing the site’s bounce rate. It is important for any web designer who wants to design versatile sites to learn the best responsive web design approaches.

3. What jQuery functions are used in web designing?

jQuery is a toolset that makes JavaScript functions easier to use. It increases the interactivity and responsiveness of the websites. jQuery is a JavaScript library, developed to help web developers quickly customize their web page, add animations or perform other complementary tasks with very little new code. Some crucial jQuery functions include:

• Toggle function: Handles visibility control.
• Hide and show functions: Makes elements more or less visible to other class instances in the same application.
• slideUp and slideDown functions: Responsible for controlling the animation on the screen concerning the vertical sliding movement.
• fadeOut and fadeIn functions: Combines with the fading of the element.
• slideToggle function: To and fro change of slideUp and slideDown functions.
• fadeToggle function: Switch over and alternate between fade out and fade in.
• Animate function: Initial objects are generated and custom animations are created.
• Image replacement gallery: It can change images on the monitor cyclically.

4. Explain the difference between HTML tags vs HTML elements.

Tags and elements are both critical components of HTML. They act in different capacities in Website development. Tags are keywords the web browser uses to understand how to present content to be viewed on the internet. These tags assist the browser in differentiating ordinary text and HTML content to improve its rendering process. Tags should be written in the form of < >, including <h1 >, < /h1 >, <p>, < /p>, <b>, and <i>.

While, an HTML element consists of the tags within which the content is placed, and the content itself. It is part of an HTML file, and it may contain attributes. For example, <p>Hello world!!!and <h1> are a web page and its title, respectively, while <p> and </p> establish the beginning and the ending of the paragraph Tags <h1> and </h1> mark the beginning and the end of the title section of the web page.

5. Share what you know about the Standard Mode and Quirks Mode?

Web browsers operate in two distinct modes. The two modes for displaying are distinct with unique functions.

• Quirks Mode: It is used by browsers to render a page compliant with older non-standard systems in the best way possible. This behaviour relies on a “best guess” methodology, as it tries to predict the intended meaning of code and may lead to rendering problems. Quirks allow sites to be viewed as they did for Internet Explorer 5.
• Almost Standards Mode: The modern browsers are configured to operate in the standards mode, where HTML and CSS compliance is observed. It produces documents based on the declared DOCTYPEs, and implements syntax rules of W3C. Structured systems of code favour a positive result.
• Full Standard Mode: This mode is also referred to as strict mode. It allows compatibility with other browsers and the addition of a non-standard feature for table cell sizes.

6. What is z-index in CSS?

In CSS, the z-index defines the order of the HTML stacks. The higher index elements are placed on top of the lower index ones. The z-index only affects positioned items. It includes position: relative, position: absolute, or position: fixed. Below is an example:

div {
  position: fixed;
  left: 20px;
  top: 15px;
  z-index: -1;
}

7. What are the newly added input types in HTML5?

HTML5 has launched new features for a better user interface and easy coding. Input types are launched to add to the interactivity websites’ forms. Mentioned below are some input types:

• DateTime
• date
• color
• time
• week
• DateTime-local
• month
• tel
• email
• URL
• range
• search
• number

8. How to write an error message?

The messages should be short and to the point to provide the necessary warning. Avoid being ambiguous in your writing to be able to convey the message as clearly as possible. Error messages should also offer solutions to problems.

These are some characteristics of good error messages:

• It is important to specify that there is a problem.
• Explain the problem faced.
• Provide an option for assisting the user in accomplishing the given task.
• Explain to the user where to seek help.
• Do not refer to the error as a “problem”.

9. How to write a background colour in HTML?

Designers and people interested in the field of UI/UX design should know how to add a background colour in HTML. It is a basic concept but often asked in interviews. The background colour can be easily changed through this code:

<body style="background-color:x">
Replace 'x' with the desired colour code. To set a blue background, use:
<body style="background-color:blue">
You can also use hexadecimal colour codes instead of colour names.
<body style="background-color:#ADD8E6">
There is another choice where you can use RGB values to change the background colour: 
<body style="background-color:rgb(211,211,211)">

10. What elements support media content in HTML5?

HTML5 has seen the introduction of several elements meant for the efficient display of media content. These elements facilitate the combination and control of sound and motion in web pages to deliver an excellent experience to the users.

• <audio>: Places an audio file within a webpage so the user can click a button to play a sound.
• <video>: Embeds video in the context of a page and allows users to control playback with features integrated right into the browser.
• <source>: Four media resources for the <audio> and <video> tags, which make it possible to provide several sources for a media resource.
• <track>: Provides closed captions or subtitles for videos including <video> and <audio>.
• <embed>: It is the ability to integrate into the webpage content stored on other sites such as multimedia files or applications.

11. How to align the relative positioning of two pictures?

The structure of images should also be properly aligned to achieve the best design on the website. You can use the IMG SRC tag to position the image on the website.

To align an image at the top, use:

<IMG SRC="http://www.xyz.com/chguy.gif" align=top>

For other alignments, you can use:

• align=middle to position the image in the middle.
• align=bottom to place the image at the bottom.

12. What is Client-Server Architecture?

In the client-server system, the server is more or less a repository for all resources and services that a system may require. In this case, clients get to the web and perform certain operations under the server’s direction by using such resources.

A client sends a request via the web to the server, the server subsequently handles the query and sends back the result to the client. Many people can enter the server at once. Also, a client may create several connections to various servers at once. all having different client services. This architecture enables proper client and server communication and resource coordination to enable many web-related applications.

13. What is the use of WebKit in CSS3?

WebKit is a rendering engine used by Safari and Google Chrome browsers. This is used to display content. Adding it into CSS allows for equal appearance across browsers.

On the other hand, CSS styles that start with WebKit may not work in browser solutions such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera. However, Firefox also provides something like WebKit extensions. For CSS styles that use prefixes with WebKit to work, the browsers have to use the WebKit rendering engine.

14. How does CSS3 implement rounded borders?

Through CSS3 and the <border-radius> property, adding curves into the corners of elements is easy. This has advantages so you can freely set rounded corners to the degree that you want. There are more properties in CSS3 including border-bottom-right-radius, border-bottom-left-radius, border-top-right-radius, and border-top-left-radius.

They let you assign different values on different corners. The other approach is when you assign two different radii to the corners, which means developers get corners in the form of arcs. These features are possible by CSS3 to let designers make modern rounded border designs on their website layouts.

15. What is pagination? How can pagination be done?

Pagination helps users move from one page of the individual results to another. Pagination allows options such as “previous”, “next” or a particular page number. For example, on the page picker of an online store, customers can navigate items on different pages without scrolling endlessly. Pagination can be done in web design through this code:

/* Pagination links */ 
.pagination a { 
  color: red; 
  float: left; 
  padding: 10px 20px; 
  text-decoration: none; 
  transition: background-color .2s; 
} 
/* Style the active/current link */ 
.pagination a.active { 
  background-color: dodgerblue; 
  color: white; 
} 
/* Add a black background color on mouse-over */ 
.pagination a:hover:not(.active) {background-color: #ddd;}

16. What is the difference between Canvas and SVG?

When it comes to defining 2-D Graphics in XML, SVG is a common language. Canvas is an HTML5 tag that uses JavaScript to create 2D graphics in real-time. This is because SVG is in XML format, and any DOM elements can easily be used in the SVG environment. It is possible that a number of JavaScript event-handling routines are associated with the element.

Canvas	SVG
Resolution-dependent	Works with any resolution
Subpar text rendering capability	Optimal for vast rendering regions like maps
Zero event handlers support	Supports implementation of event handlers
Well suited for games with extensive visuals	Not suitable for gaming contexts
Final picture saved as .png or .jpg	Inefficient if complex DOM involved

17. What are the most common languages used for web designing?

This is an expected interview question for junior web designer position applicants. The most frequently used languages in web designing are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.

• HTML: HTML determines how the entire website is created and how the website’s content is managed.
• CSS: These are Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) which also change the look of sites and build the layouts.
• JavaScript: It is used in creating adaptive websites and creating the interactive feel of the websites.
• PHP: PHP often stands for Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a server-side HTML-embedded scripting language which is used to create dynamic Internet content.

18. What are child selectors in CSS?

The child selectors in CSS enable one to select elements in an HTML document that are children of the parent element specified with a clear relationship between the two. The ‘element > element selector’ can help select all the children of the specified parent component. The right element of the ‘>’ symbol is the child and the left element is the parent.

For example, if ‘ul’ tag is embedded in <p>, then the ‘ul’ tag will be a child of the ‘paragraph’ element. This syntax is used to implement this in CSS:

p > ul { font-size:30px; }

19. What is grouping in CSS3?

Grouping is one of the most asked topics when attending interviews. When elements are grouped, similar codes can be put together. This process reduces code on the website and makes it load faster. This makes programming more specific. Grouping selectors allows similar styles of HTML components to be targeted easily. Same category selectors can be grouped using commas to make coding more manageable. Below is an example:

#grouped g, ul { padding-top: 40px; margin: 1; }

20. What are pseudo-classes in CSS?

A pseudo-class is a state of an HTML element that is used in CSS to define a certain state of an element. It is often used to change the appearance of a component about its state. For example, a pseudo-class can change the link and background colours when the mouse is over the link. Common uses of pseudo-classes include:

• Highlighting the current position of the user.
• Generating animated blurs
• Styling external links on a webpage

21. Define the CSS box model.

In CSS, the ‘content’ area of a box is where the content of the document is placed including text, images and other HTML elements. In addition to the content area, margin, border, and padding can be applied to create the entire box. The ‘box model’ describes how these elements fit into a box in the CSS output.

CSS Box Model Components:

• Content: Shows content (images, text, etc. ). Specify dimensions using height and width attributes.
• Margin: Generates padding around the content’s edges.
• Border: Defines content and gaps. Choose the color, width and style that you want.
• Padding: Creates blank space within the boundaries of the component.

22. How can you add comments to HTML code without being picked up by the browser?

Use the following syntax to add comments to HTML code:

• Start the comment with <!–
• End the comment with –>

The comments will be added in the code without being visible on the webpage. Below is an example of an HTML comment:

            <!– This is a comment. →

23. Why using external style sheets is better?

It is beneficial to use an external stylesheet rather than repeating CSS on different pages. It offers a way of applying styles centrally. While using inline CSS, external stylesheets do not clutter the HTML code with CSS code, which makes the HTML and CSS code easier to organize. It is useful for applying style across multiple HTML documents and there is no need to alter the CSS declarations frequently.

24. Differentiate XHTML and HTML.

XHTML and HTML are two types of markup languages used to create content for the web. They might seem alike in some ways, they are different in their use and regulation.

XHTML: XHTML is a refined HTML version including features of XML and HTML. This makes it more robust than HTML.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a standard language for web pages and applications development. HTML is quite flexible with the coding rules and is suitable for rapid website creation.

XHTML	HTML
Extensible Hypertext Markup Language	Hypertext Markup Language
Created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)	Developed by Tim Berners-Lee
Originates from XML and HTML	Originates from SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language)
Markup language defining document structure	Document data format
Doctype declaration required at the beginning	Doctype declaration not mandatory
All tags and attributes must be lowercase	Tags and attributes are not case-sensitive
Attributes must be quoted	Quoting attributes is not required
Tags must close in the order they are opened	Tags need not close in order
Supports .xhtml, .xht, and .xml file extensions	Supports .html and .htm file extensions

25. Why is float used in CSS?

The float property of CSS is used to change the positioning of an element on a web page. You can use it to align an element to the right or left of its parent, with the text and other inline elements flowing on its sides. The floated element is still active and is considered a part of the normal flow. This is useful for designing layouts and placing images on a webpage. This is how to use float in CSS:

CSS float example: div { float: left; }

26. What is the Document Object Model (DOM)?

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a tree-like model that represents the domain of HTML and XML documents. It also works as a platform-neutral application programming interface that defines the structure and access to documents. The DOM allows developers to have total control over any given document’s appearance and content, as well as its organization and design. This model provides both programmers and website visitors with a clear and organized structure of a website’s elements in a tree form.

27. Can a website have multiple H1 tags?

There is no rule on how many times you can use H1 tags while creating a website. H1 tags let you define a hierarchy to make it easier for the users and the search engines to understand the flow of content. Correct use of H1 tags improves readability,and website ranking in SERPs. Keep these points in mind while using H1 tags.

• Use the H1 headings to convey the main ideas of the content.
• Excessive use of H1 tags can affect SEO as it weakens the focus on the most important part of the content.
• Place H1 to create a well-balanced structure of the webpage and avoid confusion.

28. What is Semantic HTML?

Semantic HTML means using tags in a way that can be easily understood by both the coder and the browser. These tags make an HTML page meaningful. So, it is no longer just a view-only document. Semantic HTML elements specify the content’s meaning to both humans and machines.

• Header and Footer: These tags define the type of information they contain and the context of that information.
• HTML5 Semantic Elements: Some of these include <details>, <article>, <figure>, <figcaption>, <section>, <mark>, <time> and <summary>.

29. What is the difference between visibility: hidden and display: none?

Visibility: hidden hides the element but it still takes up space in the layout. However, with display: none, the element is completely taken out so it does not even occupy space in the layout.

30. What is the use of a selector in CSS?

In CSS, selectors tell the browser which HTML elements to select for applying the styles in the rule set. They are used to apply styles to certain parts of a website and help maintain the website’s layout.

Selecting is a way of finding and selecting elements in the HTML document based on the element name, attribute ID or class. Through selectors, web designers select several elements at a go, making the work of applying styles on a webpage easier.

This feature makes it possible to determine the appearance of a site in detail. This makes selectors one of the most important tools in web design.

31. What is a grid system?

A grid system is one of the important techniques used in designing especially in the graphic and web designing niches. It helps with the alignment and layouts, making it convenient. Through these guidelines, designers can fit all the parts into a website neatly. When arranging content on a website, using a grid system helps in better design and layout of a website. It also helps make for easier navigation by users. Various categories of grids in web design each have its function in creating greater unity and consistency in design. The use of a grid format enhances the general development and design of web content.

32. Define class selector in CSS.

One of the most important questions that a candidate can be asked is to explain the class selector in CSS. The CSS class selector employs a period (. ) before the class name to target multiple elements in a webpage with the same class. That is why this selector allows you to set specific CSS declarations to these elements on their own. In other words the class selector enables you to style your elements based on the class attribute that is assigned to a certain element.

The class selector can be used as follows:

.exampleclass {
    font-family: TimesNewRoman;
    font-size: 30px;
    background: blue;
}

In the HTML, you apply the class like this:

<div class="exampleclass">
    ...
</div>

33. What is information architecture?

Information architecture which is abbreviated as IA is the organization, structuring and categorizing of data deliberately and soundly. This method is effective in organizing the data, and then simplifying the labelling process. It makes data easier to locate by the users. While, IA is not only about coming up with new concepts or some kind of original design but the future redesign of the existing designs for better understanding or for better use as well. It is one of the primary elements people consider when they want to know how suitable it is for users to interact with your site and its content. Planning your site’s structure boosts its usability for all types of visitors.

34. What is W3C? How does it impact web design?

The W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium. It is an international community that is responsible for various aspects of the Internet. It sets up web standards as part of a consultative process across the public, its stakeholders, and a network of international experts. These standards are designed to improve the relationships between all the parties involved in the production of the so-called web 2. 0.

Through the establishment of such standards, the W3C ensures continuous growth of web technologies while making them accessible to everyone. Maintaining W3C standards additionally benefits web designers in developing websites that are equally friendly to different browsers and gadgets with optimum flexibility for the users. W3C navigates the futre of the internet so that it becomes everything that it can be and creates awareness of proper web design.

35. What is the role of white space content on the web page?

White space is very essential in web designs since it feels like the users are being given some space to breathe. Web designers visually connect and divide the items, size important features, and distribute the content grid. Empty areas create a visual flow from one component to another. This practice boosts the website’s look and makes it look appealing. Proper formatting of the white space can greatly improve the site’s welcoming outlook. If used effectively, the white space can help turn a cramped and congested design into an inviting space.

36. Which is the best format to embed self-hosted videos on a website?

As a guide when using HTML 5 to insert self-hosted videos on a website, make the website’s video format compatible with different browsers and gadgets. MP4 is frequently used nowadays and is compatible with most web browsers, software platforms, and devices. However, backup formats are critical. This guarantees supporting Firefox and some Android devices that do not accept MP4 formats in the form of OGV and WebM formats. By providing videos in these formats: MP4, OGV and WebM ensure that all your visitors find videos pleasant to watch, making your video more user-friendly.

37. Define ID selector.

The ID selector is used to locate a specific HTML element by using the ID value that is assigned to that element. Web designers can use the ID selector to target specific parts of a webpage to have consistent styling and work properly. In this case, the ID selector employs the hash (#) character next to the targeted HTML element’s ID. The syntax used in ID selectors is #idName.

Example: This is an HTML component with an ID of “footer”

<div id=”footer”>It is the footer</div>

38. Mention the properties of transitions in CSS3.

To make changes to a web element transitional, you must use the CSS transition property. This property contains four key characteristics:

• Transition-property: This determines in which properties changes will occur and how this will happen in terms of CSS attributes.
• Transition-duration: Specify the time for this in seconds that it takes for the transition animation to occur.
• Transition-timing function: Identifies the slope of the transition. This means how quickly the state key evolves.
• Transition-delay: It determines the time gap before transitioning occurs or the transitioning time.

39. What are the types of pop-up boxes present in JavaScript?

This question can be a standard starting point in many web design interviews. So try to memorize the answer. In JavaScript, you can utilize three main types of pop-up windows: There are several kinds of boxes, some of which are Alert Boxes, Confirm Boxes, and Prompt Boxes.

• When some kind of message has to be delivered to the users, the best way to do it is through the “Alert Box”. To continue using the service, users have to agree by clicking ‘ok’.
• To confirm the user’s approval or consent, the “Confirm Box” is displayed. It requires the user to either select the “OK” or ‘Cancel’ button.
• The “Prompt Boxes” are used to elicit information from the users. When the users decide to cancel the search after entering data, they will receive a ‘no match’ result.

40. Mention the difference between <window.onload> and <onDocumentReady>.

Understanding the difference between these scenarios is important for experienced web designers. The first difference is in the scheduling of execution. The <window. onload> occurs only after CSS and images of the specific web page have been fully loaded; there may be some delay in loading the page to act while <onDocumentReady> starts the action as soon as the model is ready to contain the Dom of the complete document. This difference suggests that careful consideration must be given to the use of certain events in web development projects.

41. How is type conversion handled in JavaScript?

Type conversion is where one data type is transformed into another. This is handled in JavaScript in two ways: the implicit and the explicit. This type of conversion is called coercion because it happens automatically when the language changes data types to attain particular outcomes. Examples of implicit type conversion include converting a string to number or an object to a boolean.

42. What is the scope of a variable in JavaScript?

“Scope of variables” refers to how far a particular variable can be used in a certain program. In JavaScript, the issue regarding variables is based on their scope which defines where a certain variable may be used and/or altered. JavaScript has four primary scoping rules.

Global Scope: A variable declared outside all the functions is called a global scope variable.

var globalVariable = "This is a Global variable"; 
// Code here can use globalVariable 
function myFunction() { 
    // Code here can also use globalVariable 
} 

Local Scope: A variable is declared inside a function.

function myFunction() { 
    var localVariable = "This is a local variable"; 
    // Code here can use localVariable 
} 
// Code here cannot use localVariable

Block Scope: The only scope in which those variables are recognized is the block in which it is defined using the curly brackets {}.

{
    let blockVariable = "This is a block-scoped variable";
    // Code here can use blockVariable
}
// Code here cannot use blockVariable

Function Scope: A variable is defined in a specific program area, called a scope. It can only be used in the defined program part.

43. What are undefined and undeclared variables in JavaScript?

In JavaScript, undefined and undeclared variables are two common things that every web designer will come across. An undefined variable has been declared but has no value assigned to it. For example:

var stay; 
console.log(stay); // Outputs: undefined

Whereas, an undeclared variable is when a variable is used but it was not declared with the use of var, let, or const. This is an example:

// ReferenceError: myVariable is not defined
console.log(myVariable);

44. How to prioritize SEO, maintainability, performance, and security on a website?

This technical interview question is common for UI/UX designers mostly when the interviewer is trying to test the designer’s depth of knowledge on the profession. But it has become a common question for web designers as well. To be an efficient competitor today, a competent site designer must take into account multiple features of SEO, maintainability, performance, and security. These elements may be considered important to a varying extent depending on the purpose of the site in question.

For example, if you are creating a website for a large financial institution, focus on the security issue rather than SEO. On the contrary, online publications focus on the speed of their deliveries and SEO to improve their users’ convenience. Achieving these objectives needs strategic analysis; a company has to determine which factors are crucial for certain clients. Designers must manage such aspects to create sites that are effective, safe, and fast to perform.

45. What is Pair Programming?

Apparently, pair programming is an Agile software design technique where two designers work with one computer. Derived from Extreme Programming (XP), this practice aims at improving interactivity in forming, coding, and testing user stories. It particularly suits fast-moving organizations, thereby leading to enhanced code quality as well as information dissemination. This is why, pair programming is one of the most important aspects of all the web designer interview questions. Adopting this form of working, can help improve problem-solving skills and can lead to increased effectiveness of the design works carried out.

These are some of the most important questions asked in any interview for a web design role as a fresher. You can also learn web design institute in Delhi or our UI-UX design online course.