HTML 5 - The Future of the Web?
HTML 5 is the next incarnation of HTML and the most ambitious yet, offering many new features as well as removing some from the existing feature set. This article explores the potential difference HTML 5 will have on the web and whether it will have a positive effect and move the web on to the next level.
HTML is at the core of every page on the web. Even those full-on Flash sites need to be held in place and in most cases constrained by some sort of HTML container. Like most things,
over the years HTML has evolved and so has the attitude of those who use it to build web pages.
HTML was greatly enhanced by the introduction of CSS. CSS effectively and efficiently killed off table-based web design (in the most part!), reducing the amount of mark up language needed to layout a web page and introducing the now almost synonymous tags.
HTML 5 has the potential to be a game changer. Not just in the web design world, but also in the growing search marketing industry. HTML 5 is looking to further streamline mark up and add-meaning to the tags used by designers and developers. This should make it easier for search engines to identify what matters on a web page – content and what doesn’t – adverts, as far as relevance and ranking factors are concerned.
New elements in HTML 5 include and , bringing an air of standards and good practice to the structure of the web. Gone will be the days of and , or so it is hoped.
HTML 5 also wants to reduce the use and subsequent need for additional internet applications such as Adobe Flash. This is possibly the most ambitious target, upsetting web designers by telling them what to call their navigation tags and upsetting a multi-million pound industry giant are two very different propositions. However, if anything, HTML 5 is looking to break new ground, which is surely what the web and the online community is constantly craving and almost demands?
As with most programming code, going and changing your website to HTML 5 straight away will have little effect for the end user. It’s not even likely to boost your reputation with the search engines as the majority of sites in their index will still be based on older versions of HTML.
HTML 5 is a logical step forward for the native language of the web. It’s like the Oxford Dictionary update, at first everyone wondering why they’ve added ‘hoodie’ but now it would be hard to imagine it not being included. Change is never embraced by all and no doubt HTML 5 will have its detractors from the web community, but it is a sign of evolution and shows the interest is still there to develop the world wide web and continually improve the experience for everyone, which surely can’t be a bad thing?
