I started coding when I was 28. Knew nothing about it, didn't even know what a compiler was. I'm 30 now and self employed, built a profitable algorithmic trading system. There are so many free quality resources to learn programming, it's ridiculous. And all the software you need is free, OS, IDE etc... This is pretty much unique to the field of software engineering. Try to become a doctor by yourself, good luck.

Tips to start: The most important part is to just start coding as quickly as possible and learn as you go. A personal project can really help to maximize motivation and actual hours spent coding. As for the language, I don't think it matters what you pick and everybody suggests something different. I didn't like coding in python at all. Personally, I prefer languages with static typing, especially when you start out (so the IDE can help you). For me, that perfect beginner language was Java, since it's simple, structured and you can completely forget about memory management.

Just don't spend too much time thinking whether you should start or not. I wasted years with that mindset. Just do it.

EDIT: Sorry I didn't really answer your questions, I just don't know enough about web development to help you in that regard. Consider this a motivational comment that gets you started.