We’re excited about the
coming improvements in HTML5, and with just about every new browser release there’s more support for HTML5 out there in the wilds of the web. But just because HTML5 is heavily anticipated, it doesn’t
mean the spec is perfect. In fact, more than a few details regarding HTML5 have left us scratching our heads.
Turns out we’re not alone. Web design and standards guru Jeffery Zeldman recently convened a group of prominent web developers — dubbed the HTML5 Superfriends — and came up with a list of “hiccups” in the current HTML5 spec.
“Hiccups” is a generous word. More accurately, the shortcomings the group is pointing out are where HTML5, in its current form, could end up failing web developers and, by extension, users.
The HTML5 specification, which is still in draft form, is the long-awaited update to the markup code that forms the underlying structure of web pages and browser-based applications. HTML5 promises things like more powerful web-based apps, more flexible and human-readable page layouts, the ability to automatically find a user’s location and the ability to embed video, audio and complex animations in web pages without plug-ins.
The larger specification is being written by a group of invited experts, but a group (called the WHATWG) is working in tandem with the web’s governing body, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), to actively address issues specific to web browsers. All of the major browser makers, as well as several makers of other pieces of software which are integral to presenting rich media on the web such as Flash and Quicktime, are currently hashing out the details of what will be included in the final spec (and what won’t) on the WHATWG’s public mailing list.
Via: wired Read More