Check if you qualify

Launchpad · Job Training Website Template · sample contentOpen editor Get this website

Who qualifies

The short version

You need to be 18 or older (21 for CDL), live or work in Lake County, and be able to attend the full schedule for your track. That is most of it.

Funding for each seat comes from a mix of state workforce grants and employer sponsors. Some grants ask about household income, but most of our trainees qualify, and admissions will check for you on the call. If one grant doesn't fit, another usually does.

After you apply

What happens next

No tests to cram for. The reading and math check is to place you, not to screen you out.

The call

Fifteen minutes with admissions. We ask about your schedule, transport and childcare.

Orientation

One morning, about three hours, a week or two before class starts.

Bring

A photo ID and your Social Security card. If you don't have them, we'll help you replace them.

Getting here

Free lot on 35th Avenue. Route 3 stops at 35th and Broadway. Step-free entrance and an elevator to the lab.

Orientation morning

9:00
Coffee and paperwork
Room 2. We help with every form.
9:45
Placement check
Thirty minutes on a laptop, at your own pace.
10:30
Shop and lab tour
Boots and glasses are fitted on the spot.
11:30
Meet your coach
The person who stays with you for a year after you finish.

Eligibility

Questions about qualifying

Do I have to live in Gary?

No. Anyone who lives or works in Lake County can apply. A few seats each class are funded for Porter County residents too.

I'm on unemployment. Will the stipend affect it?

It can. Admissions will walk you through the rules for your claim before you start, so there are no surprises.

Can I do two tracks?

One at a time. Plenty of graduates come back a year later to add a second certification, free.

What if I miss a week?

Call your coach. Life happens, and we would rather hold your seat than lose you. You'll miss that week's stipend, not your place.

Design notes

Why Launchpad looks the way it does

Launchpad is built for an adult in Gary who has maybe twenty minutes on a phone to decide whether this is real. Every page answers the same three things early: is it free, how long does it take, and is there a job at the end.

Built for: Adults in Gary and Lake County looking for a trade, plus the employers who hire from each class
Navigation: Tabbed app bar. Pages behave like tabs in an app: a sticky segmented bar under a compact header.
Pages: Home, Tracks, Qualify, Info sessions, Graduates, Employers
Hero: a short action form as the hero: the one thing most visitors came to do (request a ride, ask for help, register a child) can be done before they scroll, with reassurance beside it. Variants: a = headline, reassurance and a photo on the left with the form as a raised card on the right; b = a tall photo carrying the headline, with the form and reassurance on a plain panel beside it; c = headline beside a photo, then the form laid out as one horizontal booking bar; A tall photograph on one side; on the other, the headline, a short intro and three 'next step' rows with arrows instead of a pair of buttons. Variants: a = photo bleeds off the left edge, rows show when each step happens; b = photo bleeds off the right edge, rows are numbered steps set large

Typography

Geologica carries the headlines: a squared, sturdy sans that feels at home on a shop wall and holds up at 100 pixels or on a small screen. Body text is Public Sans, drawn for US government websites, so it reads like the forms our trainees already know rather than a sales page. Azeret Mono handles dates and times, set like a time-card stamp.

Color

The cobalt and orange come from the old South Shore Line travel posters, the trains that still run along the lakefront here, with the orange pulled toward the glow of the mill. Neutrals lean slightly cool, like galvanized steel, so the page never reads as beige. Every text pairing passes WCAG AA in both themes.

Layout and navigation

A tabbed app bar keeps all six pages in one row under the name, because most visitors arrive on a phone from a Facebook post and behave as they would in an app. The nav action is always Check if you qualify, since that is the question that stops people.

The hero

A young builder in a hard hat fills the left edge, and instead of two buttons the hero gives three dated next steps: this Tuesday's info session, a five-minute eligibility check and the January start date. A date is easier to act on than a slogan.

Calls to action

Every action names what happens next: Check if you qualify, Save a seat at an info session, Hire a graduate, Fund a trainee's toolkit. Employers get their own page and their own verb, so they are never routed through a donation form.

Photography

Real work in progress: hands on a workbench, a trainee in safety glasses, a driver at the wheel. We avoided staged handshakes and graduation-cap clichés; the gallery is shop days, because that is what the sixteen weeks are actually made of.

Accessibility

Body text is set at 18 pixels with generous line spacing. Forms use large targets, visible labels and the right mobile keyboards. Nothing important is carried by color alone, and the eligibility check tells you in plain words what happens after you press send.

Type system

DisplayGeologicaGeologica is a sturdy geometric sans with squared-off joins, closer to stencilled shop signage than to a tech startup.
TextPublic SansPublic Sans was drawn for US government websites and forms, so it is the most familiar, least intimidating face for someone who has already filled in a dozen workforce applications.
AccentAzeret MonoA monospace for start dates, shift times and hours, set like the stamp on a time card.

Colour and contrast

Every text pairing is checked against WCAG 2.2 in both themes.

Light theme

Pairing	Sample	Ratio	WCAG
Body text on page	Aa	15.16:1	AAA
Body text on cards	Aa	17.54:1	AAA
Secondary text	Aa	5.66:1	AA
Links	Aa	7.38:1	AAA
Button text	Aa	8.54:1	AAA
Accent label text	Aa	5.36:1	AA
Text on dark bands	Aa	15.16:1	AAA
Muted text on dark bands	Aa	7.94:1	AAA
Text on brand bands	Aa	8.54:1	AAA
Muted text on brand bands	Aa	5.59:1	AA

Dark theme

Pairing	Sample	Ratio	WCAG
Body text on page	Aa	15.41:1	AAA
Body text on cards	Aa	13.84:1	AAA
Secondary text	Aa	6.86:1	AA
Links	Aa	8.46:1	AAA
Button text	Aa	8.69:1	AAA
Accent label text	Aa	8.15:1	AAA
Text on dark bands	Aa	16.34:1	AAA
Muted text on dark bands	Aa	8.22:1	AAA
Text on brand bands	Aa	8.69:1	AAA
Muted text on brand bands	Aa	5.36:1	AA

Your details

Got it, .