Problems with HTML5

In our previous blog about HTML5 and Web Design we examined some of the benefits of the new HTML5 standard that is currently in development and is slowly being implemented in website language. In this post we’ll examine some of the barriers HTML5 faces as it looks to become the main language for web designers.

The primary problem with any new web coding language is browser support – that is, will people who use, say, Mozilla Firefox, be able to view the web page? Internet browsers can only display websites that they can understand, so if Firefox does not understand HTML5, then it cannot display the website.

As more and more HTML5 makes its way on to the web the major browsers are increasing their support for the standard, with Google Chrome a particularly strong proponent of HTML5.

Currently there are two major problems with HTML5, and the first is Microsoft.

Microsoft, who makes the most widely used browser, Internet Explorer, does not offer HTML5 support with its current release, IE8. The company has said it will offer support with IE9 but it is not yet available, and when released it could take years for users to update their browsers.

The second problem is backwards compatibility – that is, whether HTML5 will work with older browsers. The short answer is no, some of the features, such as video, drag-and-drop etc will not be recognised by older browsers. However the crew developing HTML5 have taken this into account, making it simpler to add features to support older browsers.

Posted by: Sukhbir Mehla

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