initially, HTML was simple, but people began adding anything they could
each browser had different features — led to Balkanization, where each browser would e.g. only render a specific format image
the ‘web parliament’, a standards body
mission is to make the Web “available to all people (no matter hardware/software/network infrastruct/language/culture/location/physical or mental ability)”
made up of ~400 academic, non-profit, and corporate organisations (e.g. Google, MS, Facebook)
first tried to develop HTML into XHTML2, but fucked up eventually accepted WHATWG’s approach with HTML5
initially, HTML — a bunch of tags to dictate format
HTML5 includes audio, video, pictures, words, headlines, citations, canvases, 3D graphics, email, etc.
can be validated against the W3C recommendation
first developed by WHATWG (Web Hypertext App Tech Working Group), then W3C