Can I Learn HTML & CSS On My Own?

You can learn HTML & CSS in a variety of ways, and it is certainly possible to teach yourself the basics. Especially in today’s online world, there are endless resources available right at your fingertips. This article will explore how you can self-teach, what the advantages and disadvantages are, and what tools you can use to educate yourself. With the right resources and mindset, you can master the basics of HTML & CSS on your own, but it’s important to keep in mind the drawbacks so you can decide if self-taught or enrolling in a course is right for you. 

Advantages to Self-Teaching HTML & CSS

The biggest advantage to self-teaching is cost savings. Classes, certificates, and degrees cost varying amounts and that price tag can often be a burden for students. Self teaching allows you to leverage free resources - whether that’s video tutorials, blog posts, discussion forums, or books - for your education, saving you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. 

Self-teaching also offers more flexibility. In-person or live online training programs will have set schedules and assignment due dates, requiring you to fit your work and life around your learning. Self-teaching allows for the opposite by letting you fit your learning in around your life and work. You can learn at your own pace and take as much (or as little) time as you need to master certain subjects. 

HTML & CSS Self-Teaching Tools

Self-teaching tools are available for learning HTML & CSS. YouTube boasts a wide range of tutorials and informative videos on all kinds of coding subjects: from short five-minute episodes on the fundamentals to more in-depth breakdowns of advanced topics. YouTube is a great way to explore your initial interest or get answers to specific questions on HTML & CSS. Other websites like Google and LinkedIn offer short free tutorials and trainings designed to help you grasp the history and basic principles of HTML & CSS. 

Self-paced courses are another available option. These won’t be free, like YouTube, but they will allow you to use previously developed curriculum and recorded content to master HTML & CSS at your own speed. Coursera, Codefinity, and Ed2Go all offer on-demand HTML & CSS classes that cover everything from the fundamentals to more advanced techniques and practices. 

As obvious as it may sound, books can also be a very helpful self-teaching tool. HTML & CSS are the building blocks to most coding and web development and have existed for nearly twenty years, so there are ample books available that cover the history, relevancy, and techniques of these tools. The caveat with printed resources is that you’ll need to be mindful that they are up to date. Web and app development is a constantly changing field, so you’ll want your educational texts and resources to contain fresh techniques and current tools that are a part of the current web development landscape.

Drawbacks to Learning HTML & CSS on Your Own

It’s important to remember that there are drawbacks to learning HTML & CSS on your own. For one thing, with more freedom comes less accountability. Self-teaching can work for independent learners who can keep themselves on task and motivated, but may not be the best fit for those who find motivation through accountability. You won’t have set class times to hold you accountable to consistently setting aside time, and you also won’t have due dates to help keep you on track either. Without the right level of motivation, you can easily fall behind or lose interest in completing the training altogether. 

Self-teaching, while more cost-effective up front, could end up costing you more money in the long run. Think of it this way: self-learning often takes substantially longer than attending a structured course, meaning it takes longer to start or advance your career. Waiting longer for this professional shift can affect your earnings, as your ability to access those higher salaries remains out of reach until you’ve mastered HTML & CSS. 

Finally, self-teaching also drastically limits your chances of networking. Most structured classes are led by an industry expert and offer some combination of mentoring, office hours, and networking events for enrolled students. More than 80% of professionals say networking is essential to their career success, so forming connections within the field of web development can help you land better, high paying roles in a shorter amount of time. 

Alternatives to Learning HTML & CSS on Your Own

If you’re looking for alternatives to self-teaching, there’s good news. For both of the below options, there’s no need to figure out what you should learn and when; structured courses provide that for you. These options do have their differences, though, so it’s important that you understand each of them. 

Live Online Classes

Live virtual courses are considered the middle ground between on-demand and in-person classes. You’ll attend scheduled class times from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you choose) to learn from an expert instructor. Live online classes offer instant feedback from your teacher and interactions with other students, creating the opportunity for a deeper understanding of the coursework. These classes are ideal for students that thrive in a structured learning environment but perhaps don’t live near any in-person offerings. Or, if you simply prefer online learning, then a live virtual class could be for you. 

In-Person Classes

In-person classes are considered the best way to master HTML & CSS as quickly and efficiently as possible. Held on location at scheduled times, these classes offer face-to-face interaction with your fellow students and your expert instructor. If you encounter any challenging material, you can ask questions in real time instead of spending unnecessary time figuring it out on your own. This collaborative environment is available for both full-time and part-time classes and provides structure and accountability, two things that can help you succeed. 

As you can see, there are several options available if you don’t choose the self-taught route. On-demand, live online, and in-person classes are all great ways to study HTML & CSS, so the choice will come down to which learning method is best for your schedule and lifestyle. 

Learn HTML & CSS Skills with Noble Desktop

Live HTML and CSS courses are an ideal learning method for those entirely new to the field. Live online classes are great for those who prefer a solitary learning environment with minimal distractions. They allow you to learn from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you choose), providing more flexibility. Additionally, if you live in an area with limited (or no) in-person options, online classes open up more opportunities for you. 

A great place to start would be Intro to HTML & CSS, a hands-on course that will teach you the basics of both of these fundamental tools. You’ll hand code a webpage from scratch using HTML, learning how to format paragraphs, headings, and lists. You’ll also learn how to create links, add images, and modify tags with attributes. By the end of class, you’ll be familiar with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), including tag selectors, class selectors, and the class attribute.

Noble Desktop’s HTML Email Certificate will help you gain skills to create responsive emails with personality. Boasting small class sizes led by expert instructors, you’ll learn HTML and CSS coding, including how to code effective and cross-mail-client compatible emails and optimize emails for desktop, webmail, and mobile users. By the end of this program, you’ll be able to code emails that display properly in various email apps for your business or clients.

Their Web Development with HTML & CSS will teach you how to develop websites with HTML and CSS, the coding languages used to create web pages. Using HTML, you’ll learn how to create webpages with text, images, and more. Then you’ll use CSS to style the content, create centered page layouts, add background images, style navigation, and make the page responsive so it adapts to various screen sizes using media queries. Finally, you’ll upload files to FTP to make your site go live.

If you’re looking to go a little deeper, you could try the Front End Web Development Certificate. You’ll learn HTML to mark up web pages, CSS for styling, JavaScript to add interactivity and animation, and Git to track code changes and collaborate with other developers. Ideal for those new to coding, you’ll develop the skills to create responsive websites optimized for any size screen (mobile, tablet, and desktop). Additionally, you’ll learn how to use WordPress, the world's leading content management system, to create customizable websites and edit content without the need to be a programming expert.