Getting Ready for HTML 5

Hyper Text Markup Language, or HTML, is an image and text formatting language used by web developers to format web pages. HTML has been around since the early 1990’s and has been reformatted several times since its inception. HTML 5 is the fifth major revision to the HTML coding, and the first draft of HTML 5 was published in January 2008. Since then, developers have made numerous changes to the coding.

With support from all of the major internet browsers (including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Opera and limited support from Microsoft Internet Explorer,) HTML 5 is well on its way to becoming the standard in web development. Since the coding for HTML 5 differs from previous versions, these differences must be recognized and understood to excel in website development using HMTL 5.

The first major change with HTML 5 is the new elements that it brings to the coding. These elements are meant to bring more structure to the HTML website. Navigational elements and other elements such as the following help with creating concise coding:

• article – This element is used to represent a document such as a newspaper article or a blog entry.
• header – This element is used for introductory texts and navigational aids.
• footer – This element is used for copyright information, website information and author information.
• aside – This element is useful for notating sections that are mostly unrelated to the remainder of the website.
• nav – This element is used for navigational sections.
• dialog – This element is used to markup conversations such as in plays and other dialogue scripts.
• video and audio – These elements are used (many times with API) to denote multimedia content within the website.
• embed – This element is used for embedding plug-ins and other media.
• progress – This element is used to show the end of a string of tasks.
• command – This element is used for content that users can command.

Another change to the coding of HTML 5 is the updated attributes and the addition of several new attributes. Many of these attributes are element specific, but others (called global attributes) apply to all elements. Some familiar attributes that are now global attributes are style, title, lang, tabindex, class, and id. Some new global attributes are as follows:

• hidden – This global attribute indicates that an element is not being used at this time.
• contexteditable – This global attribute indicates that an element is editable.
• spellcheck – This global attribute defines whether the content can be checked for spelling errors.

Some new non-global attributes are as follows:

• asynch – This attribute is used with the script element, and it influences the script execution and loading.
• ping – This attribute is used with the area and a elements, and it allows URLs to be pinged when a hyperlink is followed. This tracking method differs from the current tracking method of redirecting.
• placeholder – This attribute is used with input and textarea elements.
• required – This attribute is used with input and textarea elements and specifies that the user must complete the field prior to submitting the form.
• disabled – This attribute is used with the fieldset element, and allows the user to disable the contents when specified.

Many elements and attributes were changed with the release of HMTL 5, and some elements and attributes are no longer used. HTML 5 also introduces several new APIs that can be used with elements to create web applications. These include APIs for video and audio, 2D drawings, drag and drop, offline web applications, and editing. With the expected completion date of 2012, there will be many more changes in HTML 5, but web developers can be assured that these changes will improve the functionality and ease of use.