What is HTML5?

The latest specification by the W3C, HTML5 is still in the early stages of development, so no browser out there accommodates the full specification. However, some browsers do recognise more tags and attributes than others. These charts can be found in the “HTML5 Browser support?” article.

HTML5 Timeline

2007: The W3C teams up with WHATWG to create a working draft of the HTML5 specification.
2010: Last call for comments on the HTML5 working draft.
2012: HTML5 specification to reach candidate status. (Projected)
2022: HTML5 specification to reach recommendation status. (Projected)

Start using HTML5 now

Even though the HTML5 specification is basically still in its BETA phase, there are many tags and attributes that have been added, and many that have been removed. You can find a list of these, with brief examples in the “HTML5: What’s New?“.

To be realistic, you can only really prepare your site for HTML5, by staying away from deprecated elements and using alternatives and more meaningful tags that will still be accepted by the HTML5 specification.

You can even start using the new tags introduced into HTML5. However, this will require a quick CSS rule to avoid cross-browser complications. This will simply be setting all the relevant HTML5 tags as block-level elements.

What’s new in HTML5?

HTML5 introduces a number of new elements and attributes to help create more meaningful content evolve the way we develop our websites, offering amazing capabilities. View some HTML5 demos and get a taste of the power of HTML5.

For more information on what’s new in HTML5, view the “HTML: What’s new?” article to find all the tags that were added and the tags that were deprecated from the specification as well as descriptions and examples for each new element. Also included in the article are all the new and deprecated attributes and events.

What HTML5 is not

It is very important to know what HTML5 IS and what it IS NOT because there is a major misconception out there surrounding what is included in HTML5. Some new technologies such as CSS3, Web Sockets, Geolocation, SVG, to name a few, have been mistaken for being part of the HTML5 specification.

Some belief that the introduction of HTML5 with API’s such as <video>, <audio> and <canvas>, could see the end of Flash, but it is safe to say Flash has it’s place on the web, fr the foreseeable future.