Absolutely. First and foremost because one can feel a sense of accomplishment with HTML and CSS. To get a tangible sense of where their knowledge can take them, visually and functionally speaking.
In essence, many may find it to be a fun and most of all creative hobby. When I started out learning it on my own, I never gave a thought to making a living by it. That would come later. I just had a blast making something on such a different level compared to painting or drawing.
Conversely learning Java Script without having mastered HTML seems pointless. It serves no purpose without that foundation of HTML. Making most attempts to understand it an abstraction at best, unless one already had experience in other programming languages like BASIC.
Yes and no. It is possible to learn such things entirely on your own if you're clever and bright enough.
However it may amount to a rather bold assertion in a tight labor market. Not to mention that people who desperately need a steady job may be taking an enormous risk with settling for a start-up in such a competitive industry. It's possible, but to be entirely self-taught it means both learning and mastering many disciplines of website design.
While I was already creating websites before I went to tech school for certification, in hindsight I came to understand how much more I learned formally than on my own. And the technology now is so much more complex than it was around the turn of the century. Yet while it took longer than I thought, I did get a job with a well-known corporation and product that most everyone has heard of.
It is possible. However it also means when you have to give them access to your portfolio website, and an astute employer is most likely not only to see your work, but also look at your source code. To see how sophisticated and organized your code may- or may not be. Telling them in effect what you really either do or don't know, apart from what they can see visually in terms of how creative or not you are.
If you're desperate enough, I suppose this may look attractive. Just understand that it doesn't mean you can take any "shortcuts" either. That you have to master both client and server side technologies. And you may have to learn and master some WYSIWYG apps (like Dreamweaver) in the process.
That if you tell them you're only comfortable with HTML, CSS and Java Script alone, that your interview could be rather short. And then to consider that individual employers may be dependent on certain proprietary technologies that you may have to learn on the job. Something I ran into being hired as a web designer. Which amounted to a lot of pressure to learn and implement things like Microsoft SQL and ASP at the same time. Then came Macromedia Flash...which I found very difficult, despite having been exposed to Macromedia Shockwave in tech school.
This all amounts to a commitment on the OP's behalf if she is willing to attempt this without any formal training. And it can't be approached as if it was some kind of "get rich quick" scheme. If you don't have the chops to do the job, a prospective employer will weed it out most likely through that initial interview where they take a very close look at your work.
One last thing. If the employer you interview with involves creative artwork, it means having some notable creativity in your portfolio website, requiring mastering bitmap graphics programs like Photoshop. Even more complex applications if they also expect you to incorporate multimedia into the websites you design. Incorporating graphics, animation and sound into a single website.
- Which was the job I had in the SF Bay area where employer expectations remain high to this day. I certainly didn't learn it all, but I learned enough to be functional based on my employer's demands and expectations.
I think it would be cruel to sell the idea that this is an easy "Do-It-Yourself get rich quick scheme". It's not
