Is HTML5 the future of the Web?
HTML5 is the fifth version of the HTML code (HyperText Markup Language). It is used to define the structure and content of a web page and is still in an experimental phase, so only some of the web browsers are able to understand it (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer 9, Opera…). Having said that, HTML5 goes much further compared to its predecessors, for when we refer to HTML5, we are not only talking about a markup language, but rather a combination of technologies (HTML, CSS3, JavaScript), which makes it possible to create web pages with spectacular effects, better indexation on search engines, utilising a whole set of new tools and funcionalities that were unthinkable before without resorting to difficult to access external tools such as Flash.
So, what does the future of the web look like in the light of these new tools? In principle, it looks exciting – animations that will improve the presentation of contents, improved usability thanks to new tools such as internal data bases on browsers, which allow us to work on applications even without an Internet connection and a lot of new features, that we will be able to use in innovative ways. The limits will be marked by web developers.
But not all that glitters is gold. Experience has shown us that any adaptation to new technologies is slow and tedious. The companies that develop the software needed to make use of these new technologies (web browsers) are not moving at the same pace, nor do they play by the same rules, as they are more interested in gaining market share rather than respecting the standards and making the latest technologies available to their users. A significant proportion of users still use Internet Explorer 6 or 7, which are outdated, slow, have low levels of security and do not comply with the latest standards. Many users do not have the technical knowledge to know that problems with visualising web pages correctly are often due to their browsers not being up to date with the last standards rather than an error in the web page itself. Nor do some companies invest in warning and encouraging users to update their browsers. Nevertheless, thanks to social networks and web applications used by millions of people that do warn people that the apps will not work on old browsers, this situation is likely to improve, and in the near future we could start seeing the first web applications that make the most of this new technology.