client knowledge base

Strict XHTML to HTML5

4th July 2009

In a previous article we described our pursuit of web standards (web standard XHTML). We adopt these standards not to be fancy or trendy, here are some of the benefits.

  • Reach more people - across more browsers and conditions, your webpage will still function correctly for your potential customers.
  • Last longer - as browsers and technology evolve your webpage will continue to function properly.
  • Easier to maintain and update - our attention to detail will mean we can update your pages quicker and new technologies can integrate easier, making your maintenance and upgrade costs lower.
  • Richer Web Experience - HTML 5 can serve better grahics, embedded video and other elements to make your webpages a richer experience for your clients.
  • Search engine friendly - In addition to making it easier for your customers to access the site, search engines can see your pages better too. Your products and your business will have better visibility.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recently announced they are stopping work on XHTML 2. This is so resources can be committed to HTML5. This may be all gibberish to you but like any industry the web design community has its own language. XHTML was an attempt at XML serialisation of HTML. So that we could take advantage of XML in our push to a sematic web. HTML 5 provides a number of new tags that support functionality we are increasingly needing to use. Take the Canvas element for example, this will enable us to rendering graphs, game graphics, or other visual images on the fly, without the need for JavaScript or other technologies.

Waterfall Way Designs will be moving our existing websites to HTML5 and all future work will utilise this advanced specification.

If you are interested in learning more here is a list of reputable links:

www.w3.org

www.webstandards.org

Search for videos from Jeffery Zeldman, he is one of the standards pioneers and explains it well.