KimCrawley.com- Bright Ideas: Getting ready for HTML5- Which tags have been dropped?

Here's my much awaited post about which tags have been dropped in HTML5. These are the tags people like myself have to get into the habit of not using.

If you want to read about the NEW tags in HTML5, and other posts in my Project HTML5 series, here's a handy index:

Tags we've got to stop using:

The <acronym> tag. If you must, use <abbr> instead.

The <applet> tag has been replaced by <object>.

Stop using <basefont>, and use CSS to format font size. I will soon do a post in the Project HTML5 series about CSS3 and how to implement those standards.

Same goes for the <big> tag. No longer supported in HTML5.

Arrgghh! Here's my Achilles heel. The <center> tag. I use it so much in kimcrawley.com and buchalterconsulting.ca. Readying those sites for HTML5 will basically involve removing all <center> tags, and using new CSS commands. I will let you know when kimcrawley.com and buchalterconsulting.ca will be supported, later in the HTML5 series, hopefully by the second week of October.

The <dir> tag has been dropped, use unnumbered lists, the <ul> and <li> tags, instead.

<font>, same with <basefont> and <big>, use CSS instead.

Yippee! <frame>, <noframes> and <frameset> are dropped in HTML5! No more frames!

<s> and <strike> have been dropped, use CSS and <del> for ~~strikethrough~~ text.

<tt> is no more, use CSS to implement teletype text.

No more <u>, use CSS for this, too.

<xmp> was dropped, use <pre> for preformatted text now.

So, in a nutshell, when we want to format text by changing font size, font, font colour, alignment etc., we've got to stop using HTML tags, and use CSS3 instead. I remember how long it took for CSS to even be useable in most browsers. CSS took a long time to catch on. But now, HTML5 means we absolutely must use CSS to format text. So, if I change my mind about a font size, for instance, all changes will be made at the top, instead of going directly to the text I want to change. Having started learning web design in 1994, this is a habit I must practice, practice, practice. And no more <center>, but when I get used to not using it, I'll wonder why I liked the tag so much.

Frames have been dropped in HTML5, and that's worth celebrating. Frames are bad for SEO. Frames are bad for the accessibility of your webpages for blind people. (For that reason, I've got to always use the alt attribute with the <img> tag, too.) And, have you ever visited an external link in a website that uses frames, and got stuck in their frames?

And the new <video>, <audio> and <canvas> tags are very exciting. With <video> and <audio>, there's a handy way to integrate multimedia in your webpages without using Flash. Think of how many people are surfing the web on their iPads and iPhones, unfortunately. (See my post, Don't get an iPad, wait for RIM's PlayBook.) And with the <canvas> tag, well, the sky's the limit!

Upcoming posts in my Project HTML5 series will be about CSS3 and how I'm optimized my sites, kimcrawley.com, and buchalterconsulting.ca, for HTML5.