Member Avatar for squigworm

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to start taking courses again in HTML5 and CSS3 with the goal of obtaining employment. I will be building my portfolio and studying quite a bit on my own via Lynda.com, but I am very curious as to what the most respected online course cirtifications are. Any advice on how to best prepare myself for the job market is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read and or respond.

Colin

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A short, practical roadmap to turn HTML5/CSS3 study into hireable work. Several replies here (for example on portfolio importance and / on quick-reference learning) are right: demonstrable projects beat certificates. Below are concrete steps and checks you can apply right away to make that portfolio and your job applications stand out.

Build a small, focused portfolio (3–6 projects) where each item includes a live demo and the source repo. Make at least one project a fully responsive site, one that exercises modern layout (Flexbox and Grid), and one that shows interactive or form-handling skills. For every project include a short case study: goal, constraints, key decisions, accessibility notes, performance metrics, and what you’d improve next. Clean, purposeful commits and a readable README add credibility.

Skills and checks to highlight: semantic, accessible HTML; responsive images and breakpoints; CSS Grid + Flexbox mastery; basic DOM scripting (no heavy frameworks required); version control (clean Git history); and deployment of live demos. Quick troubleshooting habits employers notice: test keyboard-only navigation, use device-size emulation and network throttling in devtools, and reproduce bugs with a minimal testcase. Run a basic performance/accessibility audit and mention the results.

A final note on certifications: they can structure learning, but hiring decisions favor real work and measurable outcomes. If you want a certificate, choose one that requires graded, public projects you can link in your portfolio. Follow the practical advice already posted by members like and iterate on your projects—real improvement shown in public repos and live demos will open more doors than a list of course names.

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Member Avatar for mattster

http://www.w3schools.com/ are probably the best, and their certifications are well renouned. This will look really good if you have one or two of these under your belt.

Good luck!

mattster

Member Avatar for JorgeM

I'd agree that w3schools is a great place to start because it will get you up and going very quickly since their tutorials are short and easy. However, I'm not too sure that I'd depend on them for anything other than an introduction.

I'm not a web developer by trade so I'm not familiar with the value of their certifications, but I've never heard or seen anyone with a certification from w3schools. You may want to do more research before you decide to spend some money investing in a certification.

I think a potential employer would be most interested in your portfolio which shows your best work rather than certifications.

Member Avatar for mattster

I'm not a web developer by trade

Yet you have an awesome site with loads of useful web design stuff on it!

I think a potential employer would be most interested in your portfolio which shows your best work rather than certifications.

Definately! Portfolio and have a history of decent clients is absolutely everything, certifications make little difference in web design. Everything is based on how good you are and what you can actually do.

Member Avatar for lk123456

Offline courses would be seen as more reputable however as others have mentioned, if you continue to build up a strong portfolio of work which are completed in a timely manner and to a high standard for your client, that would be a step in the right direction.

There may be someone who has certifications but no/few samples of work and someone who has less certifications but a large portfolio. It depends on what the employer is prepared to take a risk on.

Member Avatar for scottcoulson

I hope this doesn't sound redundant, but W3Schools.com, as far as a resource for learning what you mentioned quickly, is the best I've found. They do have certifications, but I've never heard anybody mention them, either good or bad, so I can't speak to their repute or their respect amongst hiring managers. I am a web developer and this is my goto (shame on me for using goto) web site for all things web when I need a quick reference with examples. I also use it for SQL quick reference.

Member Avatar for squigworm

Thank You!! for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated

Member Avatar for oriclon

Definetly use w3. Also useThey have a ton of useful code that I have foud useful

Edited by oriclon because: looked bad
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