Sep

2010

More about HTML5 and Web Design

In our last post we examined some of the features HTML5 offers web designers, and in this post we’ll take a look at some of the other things it can do.

For the user, HTML5 is going to make things run more smoothly. There are plenty of examples of this on the web already, let’s take a look at some.

Google is at the forefront of integrating HTML5 into its current services, and anyone with an HTML5-ready browser (Firefox, Chrome etc) can see it in action in their Gmail account. Usually when you want to add an attachment to an email, you have to go through the attach menu and select the file from your computer. Gmail has changed all that by using HTML5’s drag-and-drop feature so users can drag a file from their desktop straight into the email, and Gmail will automatically attach it for you.

Users on Apple’s Safari browser can see the power of HTML5 right now through Apple’s (http://www.apple.com/safari/welcome/) HTML5 website, which shows Flash-like animations using only HTML5.

HTML5 also supports Geolocation, where your browser will interact with a web page to let it know exactly where you are. The implications are huge – Twitterers can see who else is nearby, if you search for a restaurant the search engine will be able to provide the closest places first, when looking for a train timetable the website can figure out which is most relevant to you. To see Geolocation in action, visit this website. Here a web designer used Twitter’s Geolocation function to map tweets near to the user. You’ll notice your browser asks you whether you want to share your location with the website – this is a built-in feature of HTML5 to ensure privacy.

HTML5 opens a whole new window of opportunity for web designers. Its exciting!

Posted by: Sukhbir Mehla