Building websites shouldn’t be ultra time-consuming, and since the release of HTML5, it doesn’t need to be. If you’re on the fence about migrating, let us talk you round; today, we’ll be discussing what new features HTML5 offers over its predecessors.
Web speed optimization is everything. If your site loads slowly, then your users are going to be jumping ship before they’ve even seen the page. HTML5 is lighter and faster-loading than its predecessors, and will give you a significant bump in both performance and conversions. Which is all well and good to say, but what does it mean to have a website using HTML5? Well …
HTML5 allows for the creation of more accessible websites
HTML5 is able to do this thanks to ARIA and semantic tags. Improved semantic tags reduce errors, make crawling more efficient, and allow screen readers to have an easier way of examining the HTML document, ultimately improving the experience of individuals that use them. Meanwhile, ARIA allows for the creation of key landmarks on your page, such as the footer, header, article navigation, etc. What was once previously overlooked has now been placed front and center. This allows the creation of more coherent, efficient, readable markup.
HTML5 includes video and audio support
Needing a weighty Flash Player is a thing of the past thanks to the <video> and <audio> tags that come with HTML5. With this, your media plays quickly and accurately without slowing your site down. This is because it treats the video and audio tags like an image, so there’s none of that embedding necessary.
Things get lighter with Doctype
Doctype is much simpler and easier than with previous HTML versions—you no longer have to endure cutting and pasting of excruciatingly long lines of text and messy head tags crammed with doctype attributes. All that’s left for you to do is to just type it out, and that’s it. What’s more, it also works very well with all browsers (including IE6).
Website using HTML5 have cleaner code
If simplicity, elegance, and efficiency of code are what it takes for you to be really happy, then HTML5 is out to make your coding dreams come true. It allows you to write code (descriptive and semantic) very clearly as well as separates style and content from the meaning. In the past, it would take div’s for each and every chunk of content and then add a class or id for the description; now with HTML5’s tags coding your markup is done in a cleaner way and lets you organize your CSS much better.
Better AMP compatibility
The AMP project creates some of the fastest-loading web pages around, and it’s built around HTML5. Check out our AMP beginners’ guide if you want to get set up—AMP can be a bit tricky to write, but it’ll pay huge dividends in terms of load speed and (anecdotally) will get you a major SEO bump.
HTML5 is grounded on anything and everything mobile
Because we’re browsing on our phones and tablets more often, websites that are lighter, faster, and maximize screen real estate are really appreciated by users. HTML5 is all about mobile technology, and it’s an incredible tool for developing apps and websites in a mobile format. This becomes especially important with Adobe’s announcement that mobile Flash is dead. Furthermore, mobile browsers have begun full adoption of HTML5 – making it even easier to design and construct website counterparts for smaller and touch screen displays. Dubbed as Responsive Design, this new revolution includes neat meta tags for further optimizing mobile like full-screen browsing, expansive icons for the home screen, and viewport options for defining zoom setting as well as viewport widths.
In a nutshell, HTML5 aims to make your job of crafting websites so much easier and faster. With it, you can say goodbye to the age-old practice of slaving over laborious codes and figuring out how to add more room to an already overloaded (and glaringly messy) HTML website without crashing it down.
