In our last article we provided some reasons you should choose HTML5 instead of  HTML for converting designs. Today we bring you the latest industry’s news on HTML5 features:

• The Mobile Benefits Promised in HTML5
• HTML5 Elements For SEO Benefit
• HTML5 to Create New Wave of Opportunities in Mobile Landscape
• HTML5 vs Native: The Mobile App Debate

For any website development project, converting the design to HTML is a necessity. HTML is considerably the most well known and most preferred markup language in use today. One of its greatest values is its ability to help describe and structure the content and appearance of website pages on the Internet. That is one of the key reasons it can be found in use by web developers worldwide. And with the introduction of HTML5, and its expanded capabilities, it’s no surprise to see web developers flocking to embrace the technology so they can experience its benefits.

HTML5 is an improved version of HTML with a number of new features that provide the ability to enhance the functionality of a website to an even greater extent. HTML5 answers some fundamental needs of the modern Internet and addresses some of the shortcomings inherent in the earlier versions of HTML. One of the most important enhancements of HTML5 is that it is easily accessible by the newer versions of web browsers like Firefox, Chrome or Opera.

Some of the basic differences between HTML and HTLM5 are:

• Better usability. HTML5 focuses on improving the accessibility of the Internet to provide better usability to users and makes the Internet more understandable for search engine robots.
• Easier to access by all the web browsers.
• Search engine friendly. This feature helps any website gain better ranking in search engines and can provide a greater volume of traffic. The more accurate the code behind a website is, the higher that website is ranked by search engines, resulting in increased audience visibility.
• Backwards compatibility. Websites written in previous versions of HTML don’t need to be updated to be correctly displayed by the most modern browsers.

In addition, HTML5 has some exciting features that are useful for the mobile web. Being supported by Apple and Google, it introduces several technology improvements like: adding off-line data storage, video and audio streaming and playback, geo-location, extended drag and support system, and user interface tools.

HTML5 is the best technology to implement into your website to proactively keep up with Internet dynamics. We also believe that mobile websites need to keep pace and be innovative and easy to use. We are experienced with coding PSD to HTML5 websites and we can help your business achieve an effective presence both in the traditional and mobile web zones.

At CodeMyIMAGE we are aware that HTML5 offers one of the best opportunities for creating more interactive and efficient websites, and we encourage the implementation of this newer technology.

We would like to share with you more resources on HTML 5 and its benefits:

• How HTML5 Will Revolutionize the Web
• HTML5 is Great for Mobile, Developers Say
• 101 Best HTML5 Site
• 25+ Stunning Websites Using HTML5

Also, if you haven’t yet heard the news of the week , allow us to inform you that Microsoft decided to start moving the world from Internet Explorer 6. You can find more here,  the official website created by Microsoft to support its cause.

New technologies have always attracted controversies related to implementation and compatibility with preexisting environments.  It is certainly the case for the latest developments in web technologies like HTML5 or CSS3, which may discourage web designers and developers from implementing their features, mainly due to the fact that they are yet to receive full browser support.

However, wide acceptance by designers and developers to embrace the newer technologies, will most likely push other technologies to implement change and adapt more quickly. The end result, determined internet browsers will compete by adding new features in order to better support these new standards. The question is, how well prepared are the most popular internet browsers for the ongoing evolution of the web standards, and in particular HTML5?

Web specialists say that full cross-browser compatibility is never going to happen! The simple explanation for this statement is that, while the web standards are constantly changing, internet browsers will not focus on the full implementation or support of one technology.

The most popular browsers such us Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, are all supporting HTML5 these days. Safari stands out as the first browser to support HTML5 audio and video tags, enabling developers to build rich websites without the need for additional plug-ins. According to a recent test run by W3C and published at the end of 2010, Internet Explorer 9 is the best performer in HTML5 conformance, followed by the Firefox 4 beta 6, Google Chrome 7, Opera 10.6, and Safari 5.0.

The users of these popular browsers also tend to upgrade quickly, which should be encouraging for web developers to move to incorporate HTML5. However, web developers should keep in mind and not only who their users are but also what browsers they are using, in order to permanently optimize their website(s). It is a fact that users’ preferences for internet browsers vary, so if your Analytics indicates the use of older browsers, you can always add JavaScript to support the new HTML5 or CSS3 features.

At CodeMyIMAGE, we encourage the implementation of new technologies like HTML5 along with CSS3 and believe that beyond the general concern about full browser support, they have the power to shape the web into a more semantic and meaningful environment. We think it is of strategic benefit to take a unified approach when incorporating new standards like HTML5 in order to ensure compatibility across different browsers, including older browsers.

A new year is always an opportunity to look back, reflect on your work over the past year and the trends in the industry and develop a strategy for the future. In web design, with the ever changing developments in new technologies, the future couldn’t be more exciting and the anticipation of what new developments will take place this year is even more exciting!

So, what do you think 2011 will bring to web design and development? If you want to stand out and help shape the direction, our advice is to be fast and flexible in embracing the use of the new technologies.  And, if you are on the design side, to deliver a responsive design, while keeping it both effective and functional.

At CodeMyIMAGE, we believe it is important to understand the close connection between trends in web design and web development, how they interact, and how each is determined and impacted by the other. We are ready for 2011 and want to share our vision of the future of web design:

1. HTML5 and CSS3 will continue to gain in popularity. With the new functionalities of HTML5 and CSS3, more designers and developers will proceed to implement these technologies into their web designs.  This trend will definitely bring the web to a more structured semantic level, and will push other trends to follow suit. For example, major internet browsers will be racing to support new features, and stay compatible with new technologies like HTML5 and CSS3.
2. Responsive web design is also a new major trend. It encourages designers to make their web design more fluid and adjustable to new popular internet devices, such as smartphones. Mobile websites are already gaining competitive advantage for businesses, so web designers will try to keep up by optimizing websites to mobile standards, or creating mobile web design.
3. Speed and simplicity of design remain very important. Looking deeper into this phenomenon, we can see it is a trend that is fed  by the new mobile web design direction– web designers have to get more creative with less in order to deliver a more impactful and  effective design.

However, these trends are not the only directions we have seen gaining recent popularity on the web. We think there is a lot of space in web design to be filled in by technology innovation, improved standards, or new aesthetics.