Imagine a web where your site looks perfect in every browser, where all mobile apps are as powerful as the desktop versions. Unbelievable, right? Now let us introduce you to HTML5, a software solution stack, where all of this is possible. In this article, we’ve identified the most important things you need to know about HTML5 and how can it help to improve your web.
What Is HTML5
Let’s start with the basics. HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the main language for creating web pages. It was developed in the 1990s, and is constantly evolving.
So, what is HTML5? It is just the latest and greatest version of HTML standards. It combines HTML, CSS3, and JavaScript technologies. And this update brings the most exciting new capabilities to web creation. The main focus of HTML5 is creating easier apps with simpler frontends, wikis, drag-and-drop tools, boards, and other helpful elements.
Multimedia Features
HTML5 can be used to deliver everything your imagination wants without requiring additional third-party software. Any fancy web design that comes into your mind — UI improvements, text inputs, multiple fields, or search bar — anything is possible with HTML5.
One of the most impressive features HTML5 grants you is the ability to embed video and audio directly in the code (you don’t need to get Apple QuickTime or Adobe Flash to view videos in browsers anymore). Now that you can add audio and video elements into the HTML5 code, you can run sites on mobile devices without any third-party apps needed. Plus, you can upload your videos to third-party websites like Youtube or Vimeo and implement them into your websites. This is now one of the most desirable options for web creators.
Applications
One of the main features of the HTML5 platform is that it works perfectly on all of the devices, whether it is a notebook, smartphone, netbook, or even a Smart TV. Even if you change the device, you can easily access the web app via the URL. And if your browser supports HTML5 — it’ll literally work flawlessly.
What Browsers HTML5 Supports
Luckily, all of the big-name browsers support HTMLT5 — Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Mobile Safari, and Android’s browser.
However, it is important to say that all browsers render the same code differently; therefore, they display the same content differently. On top of this, some of them display HTML content much better than others. For instance, older versions of browsers may not support HTML5 at all.
AppCache
With the help of HTML5 AppCache, software storage, any application can work offline without the need of an Internet connection. Apart from browsing pages offline, AppCache allows loading pages faster, which results in less load for servers.
Canvas
To create graphics on a page, HTML5 uses the Canvas API that allows you to draw anything you want — shapes, paths, gradients, and even apply transformations — simply by using JavaScript. This gives you the power to manipulate pixels in images and videos and also helps to improve website performance by avoiding the need to download images.
HTML5 Structure
Thanks to the incorporation of new tags in HTML5 such as <header>, <section>, and <footer>, the documents can be easily and functionally structured, providing not only appearance but semantic content to your website.
The code can be separated between tags, allowing the developer to detect errors more quickly and work more effectively. Plus, tags are super clear, so HTML5 is an easy and simple language to understand. This all allows developing a web page with mark-ups that make users stay on your page longer.
Cleaner Code
The semantic elements in HTML5 make the coding process much easier for developers. This enables designers to use a cleaner code, which helps to see different parts of the pages.
Requires Less Maintenance
HTML5 is almost a universal language to know and understand. You can find the support literally everywhere online on your own. With HTML5, you will also go through fewer maintenance issues because coding updates can be done in real-time. That said, if you have an application in your app store, you don’t need to resubmit the product — just update the code!
SEO Benefits
Since today SEO is an integral part of every website, HTML5 offers this possibility to you. If you assign the right design elements to distinguish your site from competitors, you’ll be guaranteed to get a top ranking for clicks. And since you can construct semantically with HTML5, you’ll be able to maintain your code on higher levels of reliability. This means high-quality, non-repetitive content that will push your website higher in the rankings.
Modern User Experience
HTML5 is a platform that offers a high-quality performance compared to other available options. The animation is pure, eliminating the latency, and both the sound and video work perfectly as well.
HTML5 Cons
While the advantages of HTML5 are basically indisputable, there are a few disadvantages that we need to mention here.
- Doesn’t support out-of-date browser versions
HTML5 doesn’t support old versions of the browser. So if you want to update or modify your website, which isn’t compatible with a legacy browser, you can do it with HTML4.
- Media licensing issues
Because of licensing issues, media has to be compressed in specific formats in order to be compatible with most browsers. Plus, if you’re using multiple formats, you’ll need to pay for multiple licenses to ensure all the needs are covered. This can indeed be a headache as it requires more coding for the website creation.
- The language of HTML5
Although the constant development of the language is considered to be an advantage, the updating of HTML5 may cause unexpected changes in your coding. While in a nutshell, the language is quite stable, this can still be a threat at the moment.
The Future Is HTML5
Overall, HTML5 is definitely a step up from the older version. Its improvements and expanded functions allow developers and users to run modern websites smoother. So, without any doubt, we can say that the future is HTML5, and sooner or later, it will empower all the apps on the market.