(x)HTML 5?
I’m not sure we’ll ever get there but HTML 5 promises to add a few extras that web developers have been craving for a while.
One of the main features of the new HTML 5 specification would be to add a number of tags that help to describe the content of web pages. For ages we have been using div tags with specific id tags (<div id=”header”>) to describe various elements. HTML 5 proposes adding header, footer, nav, section, article and aside tags. For design and display purposes the advantages aren’t really tangible, but for semantic data descriptions it is helpful. It becomes more obvious when mobile devices such as cell phones and blackberries are used more frequently to browse the web. Content can be broken down and displayed different in various different contexts. Yes, this is possible now through alternate style sheets but having additional tags will help make this process less painful and more efficient.
Don’t get too excited as the work is far from finished. In fact according to the referenced article, estimates suggest the standard will be finished in 10-15 years! In computer years that is several lifetimes. Who know, by that time the current state of browsers and content may be obsolete.
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December 20th, 2007 at 11:18 am
It would be very nice to see DOM support for flash media. Flash has become so much a standard part of the user’s web experience, but it is still more awkward to work in than it should be. I’m also interested in universal support for ogg media formats.
The next year promises to be a good one for browser standards compliance. It’s good to see the web heading in a direction that will benefit both users and developers.