What is HTML5 & how does it work?

HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML Living Standard.

When did HTML5 become a standard?

In January 2011, the WHATWG renamed its "HTML5" specification HTML Living Standard. The W3C nevertheless continued its project to release HTML5. In July 2012, WHATWG and W3C decided on a degree of separation. W3C will continue the HTML5 specification work, focusing on a single definitive standard, which is considered a "snapshot" by WHATWG.

Who maintains HTML5?

It is maintained by the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), a consortium of the major browser vendors ( Apple, Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft ). HTML5 was first released in a public-facing form on 22 January 2008, with a major update and "W3C Recommendation" status in October 2014.

What are the goals of XHTML?

Its goals were to improve the language with support for the latest multimedia and other new features; to keep the language both easily readable by humans and consistently understood by computers and devices such as web browsers, parsers, etc., without XHTML's rigidity; and to remain backward-compatible with older software.