Which Industries & Professions Use HTML & CSS?

If you’re considering a course in HTML and CSS, it is important to explore the potential careers and industries you can pursue after. Each industry will have different requirements and expectations for prospective employees, and you should consider these expectations when you start your training. This is true for students who know what kind of work they want to do and those who aren’t yet. By the end of this article, you should have more clear expectations for a career path, helping you to weigh if HTML and CSS are right for you. 

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. 

Common Industries That Use HTML & CSS

While you’d be hard pressed to find an industry that doesn’t use HTML and CSS, there are a handful that are best suited for experts in these areas. Outlined below are the top four industries to consider, as well as a brief description of what you can expect with each.

Digital Publishing

From fiction to non-fiction to educational materials, digital publishing is a thriving industry, with revenue projected to exceed $27 billion by 2027. Also known as e-publishing or online publishing, digital publishing involves using online technology to create, distribute, and manage content in digital formats such as text, audio, and video. This content is posted on websites, social media, and search engines, so it’s no surprise that web developers are in high demand in this industry. 

As of June 2024, there are over 900,000 professionals employed within the U.S. publishing industry. While this number includes all employees, an important portion of these employees will be web developers and programmers. Web developers in publishing design, build, and maintain media and publishing platforms. They also optimize these platforms for mobile compatibility, SEO, and responsiveness, while also creating engaging user experiences that increase audience engagement and drive conversions.

These days, publishing is more than just printing physical books. From ebooks to audiobooks to virtual platforms and additional online resources, modern publishing relies heavily on skilled coders. 

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is one of the largest industries in the nation, comprising 10.3% of U.S. GDP in 2023. Manufacturing websites need to meet the unique needs of the sector, like presenting technical content to a specialized audience, integrating with existing business systems, and showcasing interactive product catalogs. With approximately 13 million people employed by more than 244K manufacturers, and 507,000 job openings as of March 2024, there are unlimited possibilities for HTML and CSS experts in this industry.

Web developers in the manufacturing industry make an average salary of $85,940, while Computer Programmers make around $103,110. Manufacturing companies leverage HTML and CSS experts to help them code and create websites that instill trust, establish brand identity, and connect with their consumers or business partners. These websites can often incorporate ecommerce into their designs, adding a layer of complexity to the web design. 

IT

In 2022, 108,503 college graduates earned bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences and it isn’t hard to see why when computer and IT jobs reported a median annual wage of $104,420 in May 2023. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer Programmers make a median $99,700, Web Developers make around $92,750, and Software Developers land near $130,160. These salaries are well above the national average in the United States and can offer a lucrative and fulfilling career. 

Nearly one-fifth (19 percent) of all private sector jobs in the U.S. economy are enabled by IT, through either direct employment in the industry, IT supplier jobs, or IT-induced jobs. Business and organizations across every industry rely on teams of IT experts, specifically those with skills in web development and programming, to keep their systems running efficiently. 

Finance

Web development skills are important for any financial institution, especially now that clients can access their bank accounts through an app and most banking is done entirely online. Even the most basic-level web development skills, like HTML and CSS, can help build secure, safe, and reliable services that your clients can access anywhere at any time. Web developers in finance will help create and maintain customer-facing websites, but they’ll also help design apps too. Every bank, mortgage lender, and investment account relies on a user-friendly app to help their clients navigate and manage their financial accounts. 

Finance and insurance careers are expected to increase by 19.2%, and securities, funds, and other financial investment-related careers are expected to rise by around 25.3%. A Financial Software Developer, for example, can earn around $111,845 a year, while the highest paid Web Developers make $140,000. 

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.