How Does Learning HTML & CSS Compare with Other Skills?

There are many complementary skills that you could learn alongside or after HTML and CSS. Expanding your skill set can open up new career pathways or areas of interest, but it can be difficult to decide which subjects you should choose. This article aims to help you make more informed decisions about what you want to learn, and whether learning a specific skill is the right decision for you. Read on to learn more about related HTML & CSS training options such as data analytics, JavaScript, frameworks, and user experience.

What is HTML & CSS?

HTML and CSS are two essential tools that form the foundations of any web page. They’re often used together, but they both serve different purposes for web coding. The key differences lie in their implementation, ease of use, various features, and their structure, but both are essential to web development. 

HyperText Markup Language HTML) HyperText is a markup language that’s understood by computers, designed to describe web pages and make text more interactive. Originally invented in 1989, HTML is used for creating the primary content of a website, is supported by every single browser, and is established on pretty much every web page in existence. No licenses are required, you don’t need to pay for it, and it can be pretty easy to learn and code.

Cascade Styling Sheets (CSS) is a type of language you can use to describe the presentation of a markup language, like HTML. It effectively determines how the building blocks, as laid by HTML, are decorated and presented to the user. CSS originated in 1996 and is used for background color, styling, layout, borders, and shadowing, all the essential design features that make a webpage look smart and navigate easily. It allows you to distinguish between presentation and content by modifying the design and display of HTML elements.

If you’re interested in exploring the world of programming and web development, HTML and CSS are the ideal place to start. Mastering these tools will provide you with the appropriate foundation to learn programming languages like JavaScript, Ruby, Python, or SQL. 

What Can You Do with HTML & CSS Skills?

HTML and CSS are considered the building blocks to coding and programming, with HTML providing web page structure and CSS used to control web page styling. With HTML and CSS alone, you can build static multi-page websites, code email templates, design beautiful user interfaces, and work with other developers on larger projects. Some example projects are outlined below:

• Building landing pages or sales pages
• Creating static menus for restaurants
• Building multi-page static websites like online resumes, simple portfolio pages, or informational websites
• Becoming a volunteer Wikipedia contributor or editor
• Converting PSD files to HTML and CSS
• Creating email templates for email platforms (like Mailchimp or Hubspot, for example)
• Customizing a WordPress.com or Squarespace.com site

If you work in a creative field like marketing or design, learning HTML and CSS can provide you with a more balanced skill set and give you insight into the technical work of the colleagues that you collaborate with. If you’re looking to launch a career in programming or web development, learning HTML and CSS is the best place to start. Mastering these two fundamental tools will instill the confidence you need to tackle harder programming languages like JavaScript, SQL, and more. 

Whether you’re looking for a career change or simply pursuing a new hobby, learning HTML and CSS is a worthwhile cause. From soft skills like effective communication, problem solving, organization, and collaboration, to more technical skills like hyperlinking, page formatting, and testing and debugging, the knowledge you gain from studying HTML and CSS provides a lifetime of value. 

Skills Related to HTML & CSS

There are many subjects that are considered complementary to HTML and CSS, but below are a few of the most common. These four fields will use your HTML and CSS knowledge as a foundation for more advanced skills training, creating new employment opportunities. Read below for a basic explanation of each, as well as ways to pursue further training in these fields. 

Data Analytics

HTML and CSS help Data Analysts create visually appealing and user-friendly data presentations and dashboards. Understanding HTML and CSS also allows them to develop web apps to showcase their analysis and aids in better communication with web developers, ensuring seamless integration of data projects into web platforms. If you’re a numbers person, learning data analytics next can open up new, exciting career pathways for you. 

The Data Analytics Certificate at Noble Desktop will take your HTML and CSS knowledge and apply it to how you visualize data. You can expand your technical skill set, making yourself a more marketable professional. 

JavaScript

With just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can make a beautiful and functional website. You’ll use HTML to create the basic structure, CSS to stylize what you’ve already built, and JavaScript to make your page more interactive and functionally complex. JavaScript is a natural next step for someone who has mastered HTML and CSS, allowing you to take your programming skills to the next level. 

If you decide to pursue further education, Noble Desktop’s JavaScript Certificate will build upon your HTML and CSS skills and teach you to create websites, web apps, and database-driven apps. You’ll also get familiar with React, Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB, further expanding your knowledge of industry-standard tools. 

Frameworks 

A framework is a tool in programming that provides ready-made components or solutions customized to speed up development. Front-end (client-side) frameworks provide basic templates and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components for building a website or web app’s front end. For example, Vue JS (Vue.js) is a JavaScript-based progressive framework that offers greater flexibility in using HTML and CSS and the model-view-view model (MVVM) architecture.

You can learn all about these complimentary skills in Noble’s Software Engineering Certificate which will cover front end development with HTML & CSS, JavaScript, and React, and back end development with Python, frameworks like Django, and Node.js. 

User Experience

The most common markup languages that UX/UI designers should know are HTML (used to format the structure of a page) and CSS (to add styling such as font size, color, opacity, and more.) UX Designers work hand-in-hand with developers, so understanding the basics of coding can help improve working relationships and create more seamless collaboration. 

Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate can teach you how to apply your HTML and CSS skills to the strategy and implementation of user experience. You’ll learn to build clickable prototypes which will be easier to master, thanks to your previous experience in the foundations of coding.

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. 

Live classes allow you to work with other students, make new friends, and receive feedback and input from your instructor in the moment. These classes also provide a higher level of accountability and are a superb choice for those who struggle to keep themselves motivated or on task. They are, of course, less flexible than an online class, but often their advantages outweigh this one disadvantage. 

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.