xDesign365 – Edinburgh web design, iPhone and Android application development

As discussed in the last xDesign365 blog post; it is established that Adobe Flash is a poor choice of toolkit for producing a website. With its lacklustre accessibility and search engine optimisation tools, combined with question marks over its future availability on mobile platforms, HTML5 is a better choice.

HTML5 does not come without drawbacks – as a newly certified standard, not all web browsers support it. All somewhat recent versions of Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Apple Safari support the majority of the specification; with Internet Explorer 9 being released soon with comprehensive support for the specification. However, with it simply being an extension to the existing HTML specification, most browsers that don’t support it simply won’t use the more advanced functionality in the page, instead falling back to what it does understand. This makes it far easier to have a site which takes advantage of the newer features while not simply appearing as completely unavailable to a browser which does not support such features.

There is a variety of features in the HTML5 specification that can certainly add something to your website, which can increase sales and lead generation. Firstly, the HTML5 geolocation API allows the web browser to access the visitor’s current location. This allows you to personalise content straight away – for example, a list of your stores – without having to ask the customer for personal information. With a more personalised experience your clients are far more likely to click through and buy.

Secondly, CSS3 has full animation support, allowing you to add subtle (or not so subtle!) animations to your site, without needing to resort to Adobe Flash or JavaScript. With animation you can create visual cues on your site to emphasise certain elements.

Furthermore, HTML5 supports a local storage area, allowing you to create websites and web applications that don’t need to be online to work. This is great if you use any sort of web application for staff or customers that may be on the move without internet connectivity (also good if you have important information on a system such as that and your internet connectivity goes down).

This is just the start of what can be achieved with HTML5 and CSS3 – it really is a new paradigm for website creation.

xDesign365 are specialists in implementing HTML5 and CSS3 onto your existing website, or building one from the ground up. Get in touch today – email sales@xdesign365.com and we’ll see how we can improve your existing website.

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