I've joined a few groups on linked in that have to do with freelancing, graphic design and web. These groups are great resources for sharing ideas, providing feedback on designs and there are job postings too!
There are discussions regarding web design with some people claiming you should only do hand coding and others promoting software programs. Most agree that understanding basic html is a must.
Design and composition are skills that a good graphic designer needs. The software is a tool to use for design and does not replace skill. So it's not enough to know how to use InDesign or Photoshop because it's not the software that creates and has an eye for color, typography and composition; it's the designer or artist. I think those who discourage the use of software for web design are programmers who love coding but a designer wants to focus on creativity and there are software programs that are good for creating websites without doing it all with hand coding. Conversely, if you don't know anything about html and CSS it's very difficult to enhance, tweak or troubleshoot the design.
The software program I've been using is Dreamweaver. I like to work with a split screen so I can focus on the design and manipulate it with code. This also allows adding javascript when necessary and it's easier to trouble shoot problems. But then again you have to know html to troubleshoot.
The class I took started us with hand coding which introduced the idea of divs and tags. This knowledge has helped me tremendously when creating websites. For example, I created a calendar (which I will eventually replace with a calendar app) in excel, converted it to html and then embedded the code in a web page. At first the calendar was shoved over to the left of the page and I wanted it centered. Because I knew html, I was able to make changes from the code side.
Those who hand code only have no confidence in the code generated by software programs. But for the designer those programs are essential and there are sites that can help you check the code. I've been checking out design programs at 4-year colleges and they focus on art, design and creativity and not so much on programming languages.
