- Origins and Goals
- HTML5 was released in 2008 as the fifth major HTML version
- WHATWG, a browser vendor consortium, maintained the specification
- Goals included improving multimedia support and maintaining backward compatibility
- Key Features
- Added new elements like video, audio, canvas, and section
- Introduced semantic elements like main, section, article, header
- Implemented native expandable sections and SVG support
- Created new APIs for web applications and storage
- Technical Development
- HTML5 was not based on SGML but designed for backward compatibility
- Required two complete implementations for W3C Recommendation
- Split from W3C in 2012, with WHATWG maintaining living standard
- HTML5.1 and 5.2 were released as W3C Recommendations in 2016 and 2017
- Controversies
- Faced opposition over digital rights management (DRM) inclusion
- Mozilla initially supported DRM but later switched to alternatives
- W3C changed opinion on DRM in 2023, now supporting it
- Adoption
- Used by 34 of world's top 100 websites by 2011
- Implemented by 153 of Fortune 500 U.S. companies by 2013
- Supported by major browsers including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera