Where is HTML5 today?

New technologies have always attracted controversies related to implementation and compatibility with preexisting environments. It is certainly the case for the latest developments in web technologies like HTML5 or CSS3, which may discourage web designers and developers from implementing their features, mainly due to the fact that they are yet to receive full browser support.

However, wide acceptance by designers and developers to embrace the newer technologies, will most likely push other technologies to implement change and adapt more quickly. The end result, determined internet browsers will compete by adding new features in order to better support these new standards. The question is, how well prepared are the most popular internet browsers for the ongoing evolution of the web standards, and in particular HTML5?

Web specialists say that full cross-browser compatibility is never going to happen! The simple explanation for this statement is that, while the web standards are constantly changing, internet browsers will not focus on the full implementation or support of one technology.

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The most popular browsers such us Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, are all supporting HTML5 these days. Safari stands out as the first browser to support HTML5 audio and video tags, enabling developers to build rich websites without the need for additional plug-ins. According to a recent test run by W3C and published at the end of 2010, Internet Explorer 9 is the best performer in HTML5 conformance, followed by the Firefox 4 beta 6, Google Chrome 7, Opera 10.6, and Safari 5.0.

The users of these popular browsers also tend to upgrade quickly, which should be encouraging for web developers to move to incorporate HTML5. However, web developers should keep in mind and not only who their users are but also what browsers they are using, in order to permanently optimize their website(s). It is a fact that users’ preferences for internet browsers vary, so if your Analytics indicates the use of older browsers, you can always add JavaScript to support the new HTML5 or CSS3 features.

At CodeMyIMAGE, we encourage the implementation of new technologies like HTML5 along with CSS3 and believe that beyond the general concern about full browser support, they have the power to shape the web into a more semantic and meaningful environment. We think it is of strategic benefit to take a unified approach when incorporating new standards like HTML5 in order to ensure compatibility across different browsers, including older browsers.