HTML5 – Can we use it?

Last week I inadvertently started a debate at work about how much HTML5 we can use/get away with in client work, with me firmly in the camp of using as much as we can and the HTML5 shiv should be leveraged to serve layouts to IE. For me the advantages outweigh the supposed pitfalls, and by continuing to be restrained by older browsers, including our old favourite, then we’re not only not doing our jobs properly, we’re letting our clients down.

(*Note this is a general argument, not taking into account site specifics such as stats etc.)

For me, the bare minimum we should be doing is switching over to the new HTML5 doctype and begin to take advantage of as many features as we can such as the new form elements, and format of javascript links etc. HTML5 has been designed to be backwards compatible so switching to the new doctype will have no ill effects at all.

Personally I would go one step further and begin marking pages up using the new structural elements such as header, footer, section, article etc, making use of Remy Sharp‘s excellent HTML5 shiv to display these elements properly in IE. I know there are accessability issues surrounding the use of javascript to render page layout, as those users without javascript will see a poorly rendered layout. I’m usually a firm believer in everyone being able to access a site regardless of the device they’re using and it’s capabilities, with javascript adding extras which if taken away do not affect the functionality of the site. However, with HTML5 now at a mature level and with IE6 still hanging around I think it’s time we took a step and dragged users along a bit by beginning to use these new elements and serve javascript up to IE and older browsers.

I understand the reasons for being wary of this approach, it’s not fully accessible, relies on an externally hosted file and introduces an extra point of failure for the site if the external file can’t be loaded for some reason. However, the number of users with javascript turned off is negligible and with the rise in popularity of use of frameworks such as jQuery and MooTools means that those small percentage of users will be well used to websites not looking spectacular. For me the benefits now outweigh the drawbacks and we’re not doing as well as we can by sticking to the tried and trusted methods and we should be pushing the envelope a bit further if possible.

For me it’s not a question of whether we use HTML5 (or some of the newer CSS3 declarations), but how much of it we use?