According to Techopedia, a Web Designer is “someone who prepares content for the Web. This role is mainly related to the styling and layout of pages with content, including text and images. Web designers use many technologies but commonly rely on hypertext and hypermedia resources including HTML, CSS and additional Web design tools.”

“A Web designer will often manipulate actual HTML code. HTML is the common source code for a Web page. Other kinds of code are added into an HTML document to promote advanced functionality. Different kinds of tools can help to auto-produce HTML that will result in a specific design format. A Web designer may also use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create a unified style and color scheme throughout an entire website.”

“Web designers are often proficient in various higher-level programming languages used to create scripts for the Web. Many of them also focus on the ability to create good-looking sites that will display well on a range of browsers and devices.”

In short, web designers are primarily responsible for making a website aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly. They design the layout of the website, control the flow of information, and may be responsible for website analytics.

If you already know HTML, CSS, and other web design tools, you can find a project, short-term or contract job on one of the micro-job sites listed in that section of Portable Income Opportunities (PIO) on this site.

If becoming a web designer sounds appealing but you don’t yet have the requisite skills and abilities, explore the following courses and get started on an exciting new career that will enable you to experience the flexibility of either a digital nomad or work-from-home lifestyle. There are free courses and those that charge tuition – though some also offer financial assistance – so explore each opportunity and determine which course fits you best. Many of the schools also offer job fairs and are affiliated with top tech companies to help you land your first web designer jobs.

Free Online Courses:

Codecademy: Master the languages of the web: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This path will prepare you to build basic websites and then build interactive web apps. Whether you’re trying to level up your career, build your side project, or simply play around with programming, you’ve found the right place to start. Explore our programs and courses, try an exercise or two, and join our community of 45 million learners. Most of our free courses take fewer than 11 hours. Our global community of coaches, advisors, and graduates means there’s always someone to answer your question.

MIT OpenCourseware: MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity. Through OCW, educators improve courses and curricula, making their schools more effectile; students find additional resources to help them succeed; and independent learners enrich their lives and use the content to tackle some of our world’s most difficult challenges, including sustainable development, climate change, and cancer eradication.

Coursera: Every course on Coursera is taught by top instructors from the world’s best universities and educational institutions. Courses include recorded video lectures, auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums. When you complete a course, you’ll receive a shareable electronic Course Certificate. It is online and open to everyone. You can earn a new skill in 4-6 weeks and is priced at about $29-$99.

Mozilla Developer Network: The aim of this area of MDN is not to take you from “beginner” to “expert” but to take you from “beginner” to “comfortable”. From there you should be able to start making your own way, learning from the rest of MDN and other intermediate to advanced resources that assume a lot of previous knowledge. If you are a complete beginner, web development can be challenging — we will hold your hand and provide enough detail for you to feel comfortable and learn the topics properly. You should feel at home whether you are a student learning web development (on your own or as part of a class), a teacher looking for class materials, a hobbyist, or someone who just wants to understand more about how web technologies work.

Coding Dojo Algorithm Prep: Our Algorithm Platform offers a free collection of online lessons and challenges designed to refine your knowledge of algorithms – the basic building blocks of all computer programming. Throughout the platform, will learn through a mixture of exercises, video tutorials, and coding challenges that will cover fundamental concepts such as for loops, if/else statements, array manipulation, and more. If programming is indeed a passion of yours, we offer more extensive courses at Coding Dojo for aspiring and advanced developers.

Best Bootcamps (online and on-location)

General Assembly: Today’s complex, global economy requires a skilled workforce that can leverage technology to fuel success. General Assembly’s robust suite of courses includes all the fundamental pillars of innovation to give individuals and teams several options for growth and development. Students can choose from a range of formats and modalities to help them best achieve their goals, including full-time, part-time, and short-form options — on campus, and online. General Assembly’s instructional team represents the elite of today’s biggest and brightest companies. Course instructors and designers come from top businesses including Google, Amazon, Airbnb, and IBM, sharing real-world experience and insight in the classroom each day.

Iron Hack: Whether you need to get a job in tech or launch your own business, Ironhack will help you achieve your goals. Learn by working on amazing projects using the tools and workflows you’ll encounter in a real work environment. Join a global network of +1500 graduates and professionals across our 8 campuses around the world. Become a UX/UI designer. Learn user-centered design applying the Design Thinking process and validate your ideas through user research, prototyping, user testing, and heuristic evaluation. Learn UI and IxD to prototype your solutions using visual and interaction design techniques. We offer this track in two modalities: Full-time Bootcamp Program and Part-time Program.

Designlab: Trying to learn design on your own is tough. Don’t go it alone—instead, get paired 1-on-1 with an expert mentor in our introduction to visual design course. You’ll learn key design concepts, and see what life’s like as a designer. Perfect for boosting your resume, or kick-starting a new career. Learn UI/UX design skills with the help of an expert mentor through our unique online courses. You’ll master the techniques you need to design stunning web and mobile products. Whether you want to become a designer, or just add design to your resume, see why our unique courses are the best way to learn design skills online. Practice with projects that teach you design principles. Learning by doing isn’t just the best way; it’s the only way. Designlab mentors are hand-picked for their design excellence and their top-notch communication skills. You’ll be learning from the best.

Bloc: Bloc is built for busy people. Whether you want to become a designer as soon as possible or learn while you keep your job, we’ve got you covered. Bloc designers are end-to-end problem solvers. Our graduates are among the most competitive new hires in the industry. Explore our curriculum for more details. Build a professional portfolio with 3-6 projects. Mastery learning assessments that model real interviews. Job-ready certificate that signals Bloc’s stamp of approval to employers.

Springboard: UX Design isn’t about making something pretty— it’s about creating exceptional products that people want and need. The best way to do that is to deeply understand your users, and keep them in mind through every step of the design process.  Learn the fundamentals of UX including user-centered design and research techniques to gain customer insight. Build your own project and create deliverables like user personas, wireframes, and a portfolio website. Work with your own expert mentor to get detailed project feedback and career advice, via weekly 1:1 video calls.