HTML5 has been making great strides when it comes to web content design. It is natively capable of playing both video and audio. The new <canvas>tag even lets it load scripted images and animations when triggered by a keypress, effectively making it capable of handling some of Adobe Flash’s simpler uses by itself.
The World Wide Web Consortium paints it in an even greater light, dubbing it an integral part of the Open Web Platform.
“HTML5 is the cornerstone of the Open Web Platform, a full programming environment for cross-platform applications with access to device capabilities; video and animations; graphics; style, typography, and other tools for digital publishing; extensive network capabilities; and more.”
HTML5’s usefulness isn’t just limited to web sites, though. As Intel noted, “HTML5 apps are not limited to web pages viewed in a browser. You can also package your HTML5 code and deploy it as a locally installed hybrid web app.”
The sheer flexibility of HTML5 not just in making websites but as a development platform as well has even led to its adoption in the realm of mobile gaming. One of HTML5’s staunchest supporters in the gaming landscape is AlchemyBet, the startup responsible for the online slots gaming site pocketfruity.com.
The mobile landscape is seen as the next great gaming market, but there are so many different devices running on a number of different operating systems. Developing separate native apps for these different operating systems can prove to be both difficult and costly, hence AlchemyBet’s decision to go down the HTML5 route.
During the Mobile and Tablet Gaming Summit in 2012, gaming news site CalvinAyre.com reports that according to AlchemyBet CEO James Harrison, they chose HTML5 for their product as “it’s easier to fix bugs, you don’t have to deal with the Apple Store and it’s cheaper, quite frankly.”
With more and more companies rallying behind HTML5 as a development tool, 2014 looks like it’ll be an interesting time in the realm of web content design.
