It’s the book we’ve all been waiting for; a readable and digestible explanation of HTML5 that us simple web designers can understand. That book is HTML5 for webdesigners by Jeremey Keith and published by A book apart. As if that wasn’t reason enough to be interested in this book it was also designed by the extremely talented Jason Santa Maria.
If Twitter is anything to go by I received my copy a day later than everyone else but I think that has more to do with my local postal service than anything else.
As soon as I got the book I was very impressed with it’s design, outside and in. It did seem to be a particularly small book though. I didn’t think I would get so much from such a small book but I really did.
Now I’m not completely ignorant. I had read up on HTML5 as well as reading many different peoples opinions on the subject. This book confirmed what I already believed and also gave me the confidence to start incorporating HTML5 into my work right now.
I’m not going fully fledged HTML5 just yet though, as I don’t believe a site should rely on javascript for layout, even if it is only in Internet Explorer. I have already started using the doctype, simplified meta, script and style tags and I’m starting to use HTML5 style id’s and classes too.
One thing that I am definitely going to start using is the video and audio tags to embed media. Yeah I know support is limited but this is the future and it’s easy enough to use a flash/javascript fallback for those using lesser browsers.
This book was a great read and I finished it in about an hour and it was an hour well spent. I have also repeatedly used it for reference in the short while it’s been in my possession.
To be blunt, if you code websites you need this book. At some point you will need to know all about HTML5 and this is the perfect starting point. From here you will be armed to go and extend your learning elsewhere.