HTML5 What are the main advantages?

HTML5 is now the current HTML standard. It is the newest version of the language HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), with new elements, attributes, and behaviours, and a larger set of technologies that allows more diverse and powerful Web sites and applications. 

HTML5 is already supported in the latest web browsers on PCs and tablets and according to Strategy­Ana­lytics there will be one billion HTML5-capable phones sold in 2013, a huge increase from the 336 million units sold in 2011.

This increase means that it is impossible to ignore the importance of HTML5 when considering your mobile website.  Indeed, in some B2C and retail ecommerce client imple­men­ta­tions are seeing 40% of visitors accessing sites on mobile devices; this is only going to rise.

HTML5 advantages

Using HTML5  provides advantages to businesses that develop and deploy web content and web applications, creates refined and accurate web pages and web systems that operate across devices, operating systems and web browsers. Write once, run anywhere:

1. Multi-Platform Development
   A single batch of code can be used across platforms, devices and different markets; this is an advantage because it results in lower development and maintenance costs over the web site or web application's lifetime, enabling you to use your resources elsewhere. Current best practice for cross platform (e.g. IOS and Android) application development is a ‘hybrid’ approach.

2. Offline browsing
   In a similar way that ‘apps’  can be used offline, without an internet connection, HTML5 supports local storage of web application code and content, through the offline application cache. This is a tremendous advantage to businesses, like publishers, who can provide an offline web experience for readers on the move. The offline cache also produces significant performance enhancements as more of the site or system code and content is accessed quickly, locally.

3. Consistency across multiple browsers
   Not all browsers support all web pages or web applications, however, the implementation of HTML5 helps the designer to create a compatible site or system within all browsers.

4. Better mobile access
   Future development of HTML5 applications may lead to better access to business intelligence as all devices that are compatible with HTML5 will have the same ability to collect, collate and use data using standard (cross device) browser based analytics tools.

5. Extension of video to a wide range of platforms
   According to TechCrunch nearly two-thirds of web video was already encoded for HTML5 in 2010, and one of the biggest benefits for marketers now is that HTML5 has native video support and can be directly built in to the supporting browsers which allow faster, high-quality video’s to be distributed.

6. Geolocation
   Once a user opts to share their location an HTML5 application can use the user's location.

7. A better user experience
   This is vital from a business point of view, as user engagement and retention is key to increased site and system use and conversion. Creating an accessible and usable site or system means that users will be more likely to engage.

HTML 5 is aimed at making it easier to build search front-ends, wikis, real-time chat, drag-and-drop tools, discussion boards and many other modern web elements into any site, and have them work more efficiently.