I don't know how much prior knowledge Denise and her gang require, but you can join the OTW coding team without swotting up first! I started out knowing enough html to code an LJ entry, and I have contributed actual code to the Archive of Our Own now :D (Or you can do both! Not trying to steal people from DW, because we LOVE DW, but we always need more coders in the OTW too, and we like beginners!)