So you still haven’t switched to HTML5, huh?
Guessing that you have your own reasons for that- it doesn’t work in IE, it hasn’t been adopted fully, you are way too comfortable with XHTML, you don’t like users. Whatever be the reason, you are well aware as a web developer that HTML5 is the revolution the web has been waiting for. The future of the web is here and you have to embrace it. There are lots of reasons why you should make the switch to HTML5 right now– maybe right after you finish reading this article. This article is about demystifying HTML5 for you and making you want to adopt it. Here are the top reasons why:
1. It’s the Future
The biggest reason you need to start using HTML5 is quite obvious. Either way, let’s state it for the sake of emphasis- HTML5 is the future. Don’t get left behind or live in the past. More and more features are getting added to it and more and more companies are adopting it. The good news is that it is essentially HTML- there’s nothing you need to unlearn or figure out really. It is a piece of cake to learn it if you are already using HTML or XML. So, why not make use of the full features of HTML5 with a few tweaks to your code?
2. Mobile support
We really do not have to tell you how important mobile development is. You are probably using your mobile to read this article right now for all we know. It is more than necessary that your web pages can be viewed by mobile users. HTML5 is the most mobile-ready tool right now if you are looking to develop apps or sites. With the death of mobile Flash, you don’t have many choices left anymore.
3. Support for different browsers
With IE getting out-dated, a variety of browsers are becoming popular. Almost every modern browser (which excludes IE) supports HTML5. The HTML5 Doctype was created such that even the old and annoying browsers like IE can use it- although they may not support all its features. With it, you can make sure that your site is supported by all browsers, irrespective of the tags or features you add.
4. Game development
Aren’t you surprised now? You did not read that wrong. With the <canvas> tag of HTML5, you can develop games. And, before you get to it, it’s not rocket science. Developing fun and interactive games using HTML5 is as simple as ever. If you have any experience with developing Flash games, then you will enjoy this one.
5. More interactive
Let’s cut to the chase- the more interactive your site is, the more users will enjoy using it. There’s absolutely no denying that. What you want is dynamic webpages with better interactions that listen and respond well to users. The <canvas> tag is your saviour here again. This tag allows you to make animations and interactions of most possible types. And it beats Flash in terms of what it can do.
Besides just <canvas>, HTML5 is geared with a number of other APIs that will help you develop a better experience for your users. Making your site dynamic could not have got easier. Here are some native APIs-
Offline database storage
Document editing
Timed media playback
Drag and drop
Browser history management
6. Smart storage
The new local storage feature of HTML5 could make all the difference in the speed of loading your site. It’s a hybrid between client-side database and age old cookies. It is an improvement over cookies as it allows storage across multiple windows. The security and performance are better too and data will remain in your cache even after the browser is closed. The heart of it is a client-side database, which means you do not have to worry about the user deleting any cookies.
7. Cleaner code
If you are someone who sticks to easy to read and simple code, then HTML5 is just the right thing for you. The code is essentially more descriptive and cleaner. The semantic code allows you to separate content from style. There are many more tags such as <header>, <footer>, <nav>, <aside>, <article> and <section> that will help you replace the <div> and <class> tags. This way, your CSS code is cleaner and better organized and most importantly- you are happier.
8. Doctype
Just a doctype? Yes. That’s exactly what HTML5 is. No more long unreadable lines of code or any header tags with doctype attributes. You only have to type out the doctype. It’s that simple! And the upside of this is that every browser, including the outdated IE 6, supports it.
9. Inbuilt audio and video support
What if I told you that you do not need any third party media players or the Flash player to add videos and audios to your webpage? Sounds like a fantasy right? HTML5 makes this a reality- for real. All you need to do is add the <video> and <audio> tags. With that, your media is accessible to all users. You no longer have to go through the dreaded nightmare of using the <object> and <embed> tags with a long list of parameters to get your media to play correctly. The video and audio tags of HTML5 basically treat your media like images, with all the usual attributes like height, width and src. For old browsers, you might have to add a few more lines of code to get your media working. Voila! Your media is ready to play.
10. Accessibility
Most of us do not realise the importance of accessibility. Those of us that do dread adding those extra features simply because they’re painfully annoying. HTML5 makes all our lives a lot simpler, thanks to its semantics and ARIA. With new tags, it becomes easier for screen readers to access content easily. These tags give better definitions to your divisions, making your code more understandable to them.
ARIA is a spec of W3c that is generally used to assign roles to various elements in your HTML document. It adds landmarks such as header, footer, navbar and more through the role attribute. HTML5 adds validity to these attributes and also eliminates the need for most of them with its built-in role tags.
