I discovered an interesting article today that talks about the release of HTML 5 by a group known as the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WhatWG). WhatWG released HTML 5 as an updated and upgraded version of classic HTML. We here at Twelve Horses have been busing XHTML Transitional which is a bridge of HTML and XML. HTML 5 includes a few new tags, lets take a quick peak at them. If you would like to see examples I would recommend looking at that interesting article I was taking about.

Structure

• section - The section element is like a section in a chapter.
• header - The header element is like a page header shown on the page; not the same as the head element.
• footer - The footer element is where the fine print goes.
• nav - The nav element includes a collection of links to other pages.
• article - The article element represents an independent entry in a blog, magazine, compendium, and so forth.

Block semantic elements

• aside - The aside element can represent a note or a tip.
• figure - The figure element represents a block-level image, along with a caption.
• dialog - The dialog element represents a conversation between several people.

Inline semantic elements

• mark- The m element indicates text that is "marked". For example, imagine highlighted passages in a book.
• time - The time element indicates a specific moment in history, such as 5:35 P.M., EST, April 23, 2007.
• meter - The meter element represents a numeric value in a specified range. For example, you can use it for test scores.
  • value
  • min
  • low
  • high
  • max
  • optimum
• progress - The progress element represents the state of an ongoing process. For example, what percentage of a file is downloaded.

Embedded media

• video - The strong tag can embed any format of video content instead of the different ways each proprietary video format must be embedded.
• audio - Complementary to the video element, the audio element is also proposed. For example, you might attach background music to a Web page.

Interactivity

• details - The details element represents further information that might not be shown by default. For example, footnotes.
• datagrid - The datagrid element serves the role of a grid control. It’s intended for trees, lists, and tables that can be updated by both the user and scripts.

Conclusion

While this is a good solid update to HTML, I still think that XML has a huge future. It is a much easier language, where you yourself, create your own elements, and then use CSS to define the look of it. While I don’t think HTML 5 will be used for a few years, its defiantly interesting in contrast to the development of XHTML. Personally I think we need a faster blink tag. What do you think?

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