HTML 5: Web Development With Global Attributes

HTML 5 will take web development a large step forward into innovation. The new version of HTML will help do some of the things that used to only live in the domain of Flash--a technology that struggles to remain relevant in the wake of Apple's iPhone and iPad exclusion of Flash.

In HTML 4 attributes were designed to be universally applied to all HTML elements. However, in HTML 5 global attributes have been reduced so that that web developers can be more specific with how HTML elements are rendered. The truly global attributes from HTML 4 that are included in HTML 5 are the same in both versions of HTML.

Shared HTML 4 and HTML 5 attributes:

• accesskey
• dir - language direction
• class - name of the CSS style
• id - unique ID of an element
• style - style control for an element
• tabindex - tab order of an element
• title - tooltip text or additional info for an element
• lang - language being used for the element

New Attributes in HTML 5:

• data - a global attribute - an attribute with a custom attribute (EX: data-someattribute=”something-goes-here”
• spellcheck - specifies whether an element should be checked for spelling and grammar or not
• item - Microdata model that is part of HTML 5 that allows for machine-readable groups of elements
• draggable - specify element as draggable
• hidden - an old CSS function that is now an HTML attribute that allows you to hide any element
• itemprop - helps to further define the elements within an item
• contextmenu - specify a menu for a specific element
• contenteditable - options for this attribute are basically true and false unless the specified element has a parent thus allowing for a third choice, inherit

The new breed of HTML 5 attributes will allow for more advanced and faster programming of internet applications. As businesses move many of their information systems away from closed networks and into cloud environments or SAS environments, HTML 5 will help to spawn web design and development innovations. HTML 5 will be an exciting step for improving both public facing websites and applications as well as closed door systems such as web portals and intranets.