An Introduction to HTML5

HTML5, the fifth and current version of the HTML standard, is a markup language used to structure and present content on the World Wide Web. This article will help readers get acquainted with it.

HTML5 has evolved through the cooperation between the W3C and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group. It is a higher version of HTML, and its many new elements make your pages more semantic and dynamic. It was developed to provide a greater Web experience for everyone. HTML5 offers great features that make the Web more dynamic and interactive.

The new features of HTML5 are:

New sets of tags such as <header> and <section> <canvas> element for 2D drawing

Local storage

New form controls like calendar, date and time

New media functionality

Geo-location

HTML5 is not an official standard as yet; hence, not all browsers support it or some of its features. One of the most important reasons behind developing HTML5 was to prevent users from having to download and install multiple plugins like Silverlight and Flash.

New tags and elements

Semantic elements: Figure 1 displays a few useful semantic elements.

Form elements: The form elements present in HTML5 are shown in Figure 2.

Graphic elements: The graphic elements in HTML5 can be seen in Figure 3.

Media elements: The new media elements in HTML5 are listed in Figure 4.