The verdict in three sentences
With 3 hours a week for 4 weeks, you can complete from Saint-Louis the 12 h of the course HTML and CSS: build and lay out a real website (level 2 Beginner, 50,000 FCFA). At the end, you have a restaurant landing page and the 4-page website of a small business, live on Netlify or GitHub Pages, with its portfolio project sheet. You need a computer with VS Code and Google Chrome (a library or classmate's machine can do) and the ability to write a simple HTML page.
Before week 1: check that you are ready
At Gaston Berger University and in Saint-Louis training centres, many students have seen a few tags without ever building a complete site. The course HTML and CSS: build and lay out a real website, taught in French, bridges exactly that gap. It uses neither Bootstrap nor Tailwind: you write CSS by hand to understand what those tools generate.
| Prerequisite | What is expected | If you are not there yet |
|---|---|---|
| HTML basics | Write headings, paragraphs, links and images, open the page in a browser | Start with level 1 (Discovering code) |
| Computer | VS Code and Google Chrome installed | Both are free; a shared PC is enough |
| Time | 3 to 4 hours a week | Block two fixed slots, for example Wednesday and Saturday |
| Connection | Light written lessons, code exercises in the browser | Download the PDF handouts when campus Wi-Fi is available |
| Budget | 50,000 FCFA (about 76 EUR / 83 USD), one-off | Free module 1 to test before paying |
The course is level 2 of the Web Development track, after "Discovering code" and before "JavaScript: making a site live and interactive". The full track (5 levels) costs 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000.
The week-by-week plan
The program has 5 modules, each with lessons, auto-graded code exercises, a PDF handout and a quiz. Here is how to spread them over 4 weeks of 3 hours.
| Week | Modules | What you learn | What you produce |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Module 1: semantic HTML (free) | Planning a site, header, nav, main, section, footer, links, images and alt text | Home page validated by the W3C validator |
| 2 | Module 2: forms and accessibility | Label, input, select, native validation, contrast, keyboard navigation, tags for WhatsApp sharing | Accessible contact and booking form |
| 3 | Module 3: CSS fundamentals | Cascade, specificity, box model, rem and %, typography readable on phones | Landing page for a Dakar restaurant (project 1) |
| 4 | Modules 4 and 5: Flexbox, Grid, responsive, going live | Flexbox navigation, service grids, mobile-first, CSS variables, WebP, Netlify, Lighthouse | Live 4-page business website (final project) and Lighthouse report |
Week 4 is the heaviest. If it spills over, take a fifth week: the course page states 3 to 4 weeks at 3 or 4 hours a week, and access is lifetime. A clean site in 5 weeks beats a rushed one in 4.
What you can sell afterwards, as an order of magnitude
| Service | Quoted range (Dakar and Abidjan, 2026) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Small business landing page | 75,000 to 150,000 FCFA | Single responsive page |
| Static 4 to 5-page website | 150,000 to 300,000 FCFA | The final project deliverable |
| Entry-level freelance offers | Around 150,000 FCFA | Saint-Louis often sits at the lower end |
| Agency website | 400,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA | Team, design, follow-up |
| .com domain name | 6,300 to 8,600 FCFA a year | .sn: 15,000 to 25,000 FCFA a year |
These amounts come from the course page and remain 2026 orders of magnitude, depending on profiles: no income is guaranteed. As soon as a client wants a form that stores data, a Wave payment or an admin area, you need the next levels or a developer partner.
Mini case study
Learn this skill with Kolonell Academy
Short, practical online courses (taught in French), graded exercises, certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money.
Consider a hypothetical learner: Ousmane, 22, an undergraduate at Gaston Berger University. He follows the 4-week plan on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, then uses his final project as a model to offer a landing page to a guesthouse in Guet Ndar. Illustrative calculation: the course costs 50,000 FCFA, plus about 7,500 FCFA for a .com domain, i.e. 57,500 FCFA. If a first landing page sold for 75,000 FCFA (the low end of the range), it would cover the cost and leave 17,500 FCFA. This is only a sample calculation: finding a client depends on your own outreach, and no contract is guaranteed.
FAQ
Can I take the course on a phone only?
The lessons can be read on a phone, but the code exercises need a computer with VS Code and Chrome. A shared machine at the library or at a classmate's place is enough for the 3 weekly hours.
Do I need to have done level 1?
It is recommended, not mandatory. If you can already write headings, links and images in HTML, you can start here directly, and the free module 1 lets you check your level.
Will my site really be online?
Yes. Module 5 has you publish the site for free on Netlify or GitHub Pages. You can then connect it to a .com domain for 6,300 to 8,600 FCFA a year.
Are there videos or a trainer who corrects my code?
No. The course consists of written lessons, auto-graded code exercises, PDF handouts and quizzes. For questions, you have the course forum and WhatsApp support.
How do I pay and get the certificate?
You pay 50,000 FCFA by Wave or Orange Money at +221 77 596 93 33, access is activated within 24 working hours and is no longer refundable after that. After passing the quizzes at 70 % minimum, you receive a numbered Kolonell Academy certificate, verifiable via QR code, which you can add to LinkedIn; your final project must also be approved by a reviewer.
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Take the next step. Enroll in HTML and CSS: build and lay out a real website: 12 h, 50,000 FCFA, Kolonell Academy certificate verifiable by QR code. Pay with Wave or Orange Money. Questions? WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
