This week I took some time to go back to basics and review HTML and CSS, now expanded and refurbished to become HTML5 and CSS3.

When I first got into web design these were the first 2 things on my agenda to learn. The bread and butter of a web page. Since then I have expanded into many, many other languages, programs, techniques and standards but now and again you have to go back to 'Go' and see where it all began.

http://www.w3schools.com/html5/default.asp is always a great place for information. Here they have a great HTML5 tutorial/walk through of what is new and what has been removed. Having read the lot on HTML5 I came out of the whole thing in a very positive mood. The wheel has not been reinvented but maybe given a polish and some air. The majority of the tags remain but it seems a lot of work has been done for external plugins such as Video and Audio, as well as some very handy changes to form inputs which could go a long way in helping in error handling.

My main issue prior to reading about HTML5 was where this would leave us with the web browser wars. When I first started with web design there had been a massive shift from styling from within HTML to using CSS. At that time IE6 had just made way for IE7 and standards among all browsers were still a dream on the horizon. A substantial amount of effort was required to make your site look the same throughout all machines and browsers and now, finally we are almost there. IE6 now claims less than 5% of the market and save a few tags and styles here and there, making sites have become a hell of a lot easier.

I was worried this new introduction would reset the meters and all browsers would spend the next 6 years playing catch up to HTML5 and the hacks and filters would be removed from storage and dusted off. However, I'm confident from what I have read that HTML5 is for the best, and any negative effect to making web friendly site will be kept to a minimum. The majority of changes should have little if no negative effect with the majority of browsers well on their way to full support.

I hope you find time to go back to check out where you began, you may get a head start on the future.