HTML5, Coming Soon…ish

There are new standards for hypertext markup language in the works. (Translation: You know that gibberish that web designers type to make a web page happen? Well, that gibberish is going to be replaced with somewhat different gibberish.)

Geeky web designer types get ridiculously excited by all this. But if you’re not into web design, we can see why it might not top your list of things to think about.

Still, once HTML5 is completely in place, there will be some differences in how websites work, and that could be relevant to you, both because you’re the owner of a website and because you’re presumably a surfer of the world wide web. This article by Kevin Purdy does a nice job of laying out some of the features that will affect the average web user.

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Here’s a recap of a few of the features the article highlights.

Get ready for a better video experience. When HTML5 is in place, it will handle videos better, making it possible for them to work well without the use of Flash Player.

Store more of the internet experience offline. You know how the cookies on your computer save little pieces of the internet to make it run faster? HTML5 will make a lot more of the internet accessible in offline situations.

The world wide web will know where to find you. Thanks to geolocation capabilities, websites will know where you are and may tailor their features to you accordingly.

Essentially, HTML5 is going to expand on the functionality of the internet without relying on other languages or programs. Websites are going to be capable of more complex interaction with the user, and have increased communication with the rest of the web. The potential for what the internet can do, both for web surfers and for businesses, is huge.

And when is this all happening? According to this site, we’ve got awhile to wait until HTML5 takes over the web completely (read the source code for the joke). However, some browsers actually allow some of the new features to work already, and certain aspects of HTML5 are being implemented by savvy web designers right now. So don’t ignore the future until it’s here. Hop on the HTML5 bandwagon and start pushing the limits of your online experience.