Web Design Certifications and Certificates

If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate your skills in Web Design, you might be overwhelmed by the different certifications and certificate programs available. You might also have questions, such as ‘should I become certified in web design?’ or ‘will I need to become certified to receive a job?” This article aims to provide answers to these questions so you can efficiently choose the right path toward a web design certification. Keep reading to learn more.

What is Web Design?

Web design is the process of creating and maintaining websites. It covers a wide range of topics, including web architecture, user experience, information architecture, and web development. The primary goal of web design is to create a website that is easy to use, informative, and visually appealing. The skill set required for web design is constantly evolving as new technologies and trends emerge. However, some core principles remain constant.

Web design is a process, not a product. The term “web design” refers to creating a website or the finished product itself. A Web Designer is someone who specializes in this process by using their creativity, technical skills, and experience to craft websites that meet the specific needs of their clients. This means that web design is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that should be regularly updated to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. 

Read more about what web design is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Web Design?

As the name suggests, learning web design skills will teach you how to design, develop, and maintain web pages. This means that whatever you can do on the digital canvas of Web 2.0, you can learn to do with web design. You can learn to build professional working websites as a career path or build your own personal brand using elaborate WordPress designs. Students can build a digital CV to make themselves more attractive to employers, or they can launch a digital art project hoping to advocate for a cause that is important to them. Students can turn their passions into a business by building a digital marketplace to advertise their wares or get an idea off the ground with a rhetorically appealing pitch website. The sky's the limit for talented web designers.

Web design also covers a diverse field of specializations and skills so that individuals can create even more specific niches for themselves within the field. Programmers can enter a vibrant community of like-minded designers who iterate on and improve programming languages, making them more versatile and accessible to new users. Developers may find themselves specializing in a specific programming language for things like data science and SEO purposes. User Experience Designers will make web pages themselves more accessible and easy to navigate. Given the amount of time individuals spend online each day, there is no shortage of unique opportunities for skilled web design students.

Certifications vs. Certificates: What’s the Difference?

Aspiring Web Designers who are new to the field may find some of the languages surrounding becoming certified odd. Students may not realize there are multiple ways to become certified in web design and certificates and certifications differ. The main difference is in how they are used to demonstrate proficiency in web design skills.

Certifications are awarded to students who pass a proctored, industry-recognized certification exam covering the skills they wish to become certified. These exams will vary in terms of content, but they all anticipate that students have substantial knowledge of the elements of web design (be it coding, specific programs, or a combination of these skills) that are being tested.

Certificates are akin to diplomas and are awarded to students who complete industry-recognized training courses. They demonstrate to potential employers that a student has successfully completed an intensive training program and is equipped to begin working with minimal training.

Top Certifications & Certificates for Web Design

Students looking to become certified in web design should first ask themselves how much training they think they are going to need. Students who feel they need more hands-on training in web design will want to consider enrolling in a certificate-granting program.

Noble Desktop offers a wide range of certificate-granting training courses, most notably the Web Design Certificate program. In this class, students will learn coding and visual design skills, setting them up with a foundational knowledge of web design skills and conferring upon them a certificate of completion that certifies them as workforce-ready Web Designers.

By passing a certification exam, students looking to become certified Web Designers may want to consider the options available to them through providers such as CIW, which offers a diverse array of certification exams for students to explore. Students looking to become certified in a specific design tool like Figma, XD, or Sketch should explore the options available to them through the first-party producers of those programs.

Students looking to pass a certification exam may also want to consider enrolling in a skills bootcamp or even in a certificate granting program through Noble in order to brush up on their skills in advance of the exam.

Should I Get Certified in Web Design?

For almost all web design positions, becoming certified won’t be a formal requirement in order to get a job. While individual listings will vary from position to position, as a general rule, aspiring web design professionals will be judged primarily on their portfolio of sample web pages and the quality of their resume and interview. However, becoming certified in either web design or in specific web design skills can be useful for demonstrating to prospective employers the kinds of skills you have formal training in, giving you a leg up on other potential candidates.

How to Get Certified in Web Design

Students looking to become web design certified professionals may be uncertain about the route they should take. In general, the answer will virtually always be that students with significant web design experience should attempt a certification exam, and students who need more training should enroll in a certificate-granting course.

Certification exams almost never come with an associated training course (though they sometimes include review material), so students who are looking to become certified, but don’t have a lot of hands-on experience, will want to prioritize the training offered by a certificate granting program. These courses will provide the double benefit of immersive skills training and strong resume and portfolio development.

Learn Web Design with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Students looking to master web design skills should consider the hands-on training options available to them through Noble Desktop. In these courses, students can learn how to design and code web pages using a variety of platforms and programming languages. These courses, which are all taught by live instructors with years of experience in their respective fields, give students the opportunity to interface directly with their instructors, ensuring they can receive the assistance and feedback they need to succeed. Students can enroll in a web design class or bootcamp either in-person or online.

Students looking to start off their web design and development career without investing too much time into their training may want to consider Noble’s Web Development with HTML/CSS course. In this class, which requires no prior coding knowledge, students will learn the fundamental skills that go into designing and developing web pages using the HTML/CSS programming languages. This class will teach students how to design basic web pages using the coding languages that form the basic infrastructure of a modern web page. Students will learn how to use HTML to build basic web pages and how to use CSS to add a visual flair to their designs. While anyone wanting to design web pages that look up to modern standards will need more training in other, more advanced programming languages, learning HTML/CSS is essential for anyone wanting to build web pages.

Noble offers a Web Design Certificate program for students who want a more immersive, career-focused experience in their training course that aims to take students from novice programmers all the way to professional designers in just a few short weeks. In this course, students will learn how to code web pages with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and through the WordPress hosting platform. They will learn how to build elaborate, multi-page websites that replicate the kinds of projects they will be hired to work on as professional Web Designers and Developers. In addition, since these are career-focused courses, students will receive extra professionalization training, including one-on-one career mentorship sessions and seminar time dedicated to helping students construct a sample design portfolio that they can take with them onto the job market. For students looking to start a new career in the field of web design, there is no better way to prepare themselves.

Key Insights

• Aspiring Web Developers may wish to strengthen their resumes by becoming certified in web design skills. They can do this by either passing a certification exam or completing a certificate graning training course.
• Certification exams test a student’s proficiency in web design skills and are ideal for test-takers who have either already completed a training course or have extensive on-the-job experience in web design.
• Certificate programs provide students with hands-on skills training and award students with a certificate of proficiency upon completion. These courses are the best option for students who feel that they need additional skills training in web design.
• Whether you are looking to enroll in a certificate-granting web design program or want to brush up on your skills in a bootcamp, Noble Desktop offers comprehensive training options for web design skills in person and online.