You probably know this debate : “Does web designers need to know coding ? ”
I think that a webdesigner needs to know how to code and it should completely be part of its skills.
For my part, I usually code in xhtml 1.0 strict, compliant with w3c standards, with particular care for semantic.
A good website is also a clean, readable and optimized code.
Today, the arrival of HTML5 opens new opportunities, and represents for me a new field of knowledge to explore.