Even if you’re a Web novice, you may already have heard the term “HTML5” by now. You can almost feel the buzz amongst designers and web users!
Google, Apple, Facebook and others have been constantly in the mix — and they’re all pulling their socks up to maximize the benefits of this exciting new platform.
Even if you’re not a web designer, you may get the feeling that HTML5 will be the next big thing when it comes to meeting the demands of the modern Web.
Should you care as an internet user (or a designer for that matter)? Yes!
HTML5 – what is the big deal?
The big deal is that pretty soon, you’ll find it everywhere on the web!
You know that with HTML4, websites usually have to depend on Flash or Silverlight plugins to show and play a video file (you may have observed this in video sharing sites like YouTube).
The DISADVANTAGE comes in the smart phones, iPads and iPhones.
Take Apple as an example. They had to drop support for HTML4 plugins to optimize the battery power of their phones. The lack of HTML4 support made much of the rich media (like video content), plainly inaccessible through these phones.
With HTML5, web designers can directly embed media with simple HTML tags like “<video>” and “<audio>”
– thereby eliminating the need for plugins.
Facebook and HTML5 – How do they mix?
Facebook has also launched its HTML resource center in an attempt to help designers build, test and deploy web applications.
As you may know, Facebook has an excellent platform on mobile; it’s evident that it is pushing ahead to encourage designers to create applications with HTML5 on mobile phones.
Facebook is predominantly using HTML5 in its specific mobile products, as this makes the access to other various interrelated devices much simpler.
Amazon Adds HTML5 to Updated Kindle E-Book Format
With the launch of the fire tablet, Amazon has also sprung up a new book format that provides crafty designers with an opportunity to access a variety of updated features, including HTML5. In August, Amazon also released its Kindle Cloud Reader which is an HTML5-based reading application.
Along with that, Amazon’s KF8 is a new HTML5 kindle book which is designed to enable publishers to create picture books, graphic novels and comics – all done thanks to the HTML5-rich formatting capabilities and elements of design.
Brightcove and HTML5
Brightcove, a leading worldwide provider of cloud content services, has also announced their rousing new features that come with their video cloud online- platform smart players.
These smart players help beat a lot of discrepancies and inconsistencies when it comes to HTML playback. Moreover, the integration with the HTML5 also enables reliable reproduction with both the analytics and integration with the third party services — take ad serving solutions for example.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is — as a web user and designer, you would be benefiting a lot from HTML5 without even realizing it. Popular web browsers like Safari, Chrome and Firefox all have support for at least some elements of HTML5.
Through Chrome or Safari, you can check out some of the experimental versions of YouTube that makes use of HTML5’s video features.
Google reader and Gmail also have embraced some parts of the standard. Additionally, any site which is listed as being “iPad ready” is sure to be opting for considerable use of HTML5. Take examples of the New York Times, CNN and CBS.
Yes, Flash may not be going anytime soon of course, as it is still extensively used and supported. The flash games which we have a definite affection for are still impossible to recreate from HTML.
So when you hear the term “HTML5”, more than anything, it refers to the future of the World Wide Web.
In Conclusion – What does this mean to me?
HTML5 essentially brings application capabilities to browser capability and the web experience, so the big news is that HTML5 could render mobile apps obsolete. No more downloading and parking app icons on your mobile device. You get that functionality through a browser experience. So what it means is that the communication between businesses and their customers could change radically. But you need someone who understands what this means for the patient experience in healthcare, or the consumer in finance, or the passenger in airlines (and all sorts of other customers and companies). Furthermore you will need to understand how to get the most out of your customer experience communication strategy – which means you may need a trusted vendor advisor…with knowledge and experience…like…like…Varolii!
So – Call us. 800-206-2979. Or email me, tweet me, respond to my blog, or send me a smoke signal.
References Used
Amazon’s new e-book format brings HTML5 support to your Kindle library
