Most recognized HTML/XHTML/CSS certification?

[ygirouard]

I found the w3school certification programs recently and was wondering how recognized they were in the web design industry? I couldn't find any official certification program (i.e. equivalent to Cisco's ccna certification for networking). From what I gathered by searching the net, it seems most XHTML/HTML/CSS developers learned their skills by themselves (more or less) and that most don't have any papers certifying their skills. The W3C clearly state they do not offer any official certification program so I was wondering if any private one was "well known" by employers?Would you people say that the w3school cert is a good asset in anyone's resume and could make an impact during an interview, or that it's mostly for personal satisfaction than anything else?

[Skemcin]

There have been several inquires regarding your questions/concerns. The short of it is that "certifications" are most commonly associated with vendor related technologies. Just as there is no real "tcp/ip", "udp", or "ftp" certificate authorities, there is not one for HTML or CSS for that matter. If any certificate would have any worth while meaning it would be handed out by W3C.org. To my knowledge they do not have any accreditation program so there is nothing to really prove how proficient you are other than your portfolio. Cisco's program that you reference basically just sets people up to be comfortable with their technologies which leads to those people choosing to work with organization that have them and or to get those people to use/buy it since they are comfortable with it.All in all, developing a strong, clean portfolio will go a farther than any orgainzation's printed "certificate" or "diploma".Hope that helps

[music_lp90]

HTML is not really something worth getting certified in, in my opinion. It's so basic that it can be easily demonstrated through a portfolio that you develop. Just show them what you can do. Certifications, to me, are a good way to judge for yourself how well you know a subject and to find out where you could improve, but it's probably not going to help much in a job unless you can show them projects that you have completed. The best certification would be a college degree, but just an html certification is probably not worth it. Employers in the web field expect you to know html/css, so what they're looking for is that you can do something a little more advanced like javascript, php, asp, etc... A good job to look for to start out in is something like an email campaign developer. They pretty much only need to know html with some basic php or basic knowledge of a similar language.

[ygirouard]

Thanks for the replies :)To clarify why I was interested in the certificate w3school offers is that although many web developers know HTML 4.1 and basic CSS 1-2, not that many know them in depth and not that many fully respect the proper syntax and usage of the languages as intended by W3C standards. I may be generalizing by stating this, but I believe many web developers sticked with "bad habits" and old ways of doing things that are either deprecated or frown upon, and that not that many of them actually "upgraded" to proper XHTML and clean CSS (well-formed).I thought the certificate could be a good way of saying "I certify that I know about the current standards and know how to write well-formed XHTML/CSS". But I do agree that what really counts, nowadays is knowing how to make a web site dynamic through javascript & ajax, or other server-side languages (like php or asp).

[Ingolme]

A boss searching for a web designer most likely doesn't know what web standards are, neither what is good practise. A certification can be useful, but a good portfolio will always be more convincing to them.