10 Major Advantages of HTML5

Posted by on 26 September 2013

Tags: HTML5

HTML5 comes with fresh syntactical elements such as <video>, <audio>, and <canvas> along with SVG content integration. Owing to these new additional features, integrating multimedia content or graphics to webpages has become easy and has eliminated the need to rely on third party plugins or flash. The new HTML 5 features do not just end there. Some other useful elements are <section>, <header>, <article>, and <nav> which ultimately increase the semantic value of the web page. Moreover, other major pluses of HTML5 are as follows:

BUILT-IN SUPPORT

With the increase in usability of websites nowadays, it is essential for the developers to include within their websites, features like fluid animations, video streaming, music playback, and link to social networking websites. Till not so long ago, the only way to achieve the inclusion of such features was with the use of Flash or Silverlight and with tools like Flex or JavaScript. Such methods only consumed time and energy of the web developer, only to result in complex web application. However, HTML5 has completely eliminated the need for such plugins and third party programs as it is now possible to directly embed audio or video files and other rich media content. 

ENHANCED CODE

HTML5 allows web developers to remove most of the div tags and replace them with semantic elements of HTML 5, making coding simpler and neater. 

VALUE-ADDED SEMANTICS

Owing to specific tags, HTML 5 makes it possible to easily distinguish between different webpage components such as headers, footers, nav, and aside, to mention a few. Additionally, HTML 5 clearly defines the meaning and intention of the components within the webpage format. Therefore, the semantic value of the web page increases with the use of HTML 5 because the codes are standardized across all pages. 

ELABORATE FORMS

With the use of HTML 5, form validation, interface enhancements, and elimination of most JavaScript are made possible. This means, web designers can opt for fancy forms with different text types, varied purpose-intended fields, and possible search options. 

CONSISTENCY

As HTML 5 standardizes the codes used across web pages, more so than any other format, adopting HTML 5 elements will allow web designers or developers to effortlessly understand the structure of different web pages. 

BETTER ACCESSIBILITY

HTML 5 promotes enhanced accessibility owing to the easy to understand HTML 5 elements. As the structure of the web pages can be immediately comprehended, it becomes simpler for different technologies to further elaborate of the features using HTML 5. 

INTEGRATED WEB APPLICATIONS

HTML 5 has been upgraded with many exciting features and standards. It is aimed at making the application more user-friendly by introducing easy front-ends, drag and drop tool, discussion boards and wikis. The new features of the application are displayed on the today’s browsers for easy access to the improved HTML 5.  

UPGRADED CACHING 

Every browser requires caching in order to load webpages. Previously, it was required to be connected to the internet in order to retrieve pages loaded earlier. However, HTML 5 provides a convenient solution to effective caching. When building a webpage, the developers can specify the kind of files that the browser should cache. This solution makes it possible to browse through previously loaded websites offline and load pages faster and with minimum load on the server. 

ELIMINATION OF COOKIES

Previously, all of the cookies, which are necessary to track users, were added to all HTTP request header, negatively affecting the response time. HTML 5 eradicates this very flaw by making use of sessionStorage and localStorage instead of cookies. This client-side database allows structured data to be stored temporarily, eliminating the disadvantageous aspects of relying on cookies. 

IMPROVED GEO-LOCATION FEATURE

Geolocation is a feature which has gained popularity over the past few years as one can easily find out and share his or her current location. Geolocation uses IP address, wireless network connection, and GPS hardware information to identify the specific location of any individual. The geolocation APIs of HTML 5 makes it possible to share such location information across any HTML 5 compatible browser-based application. 

Even though HTML 5 will not be completely developed till 2022, it is not too early to start benefiting from the currently available features of HTML 5. As, in the near future, HTML 5 is believed to become an online development language it is smart to start incorporating HTML 5 in your website designs.