This specification defines the 5th major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web: the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In this version, new features are introduced to help Web application authors, new elements are introduced based on research into prevailing authoring practices, and special attention has been given to defining clear conformance criteria for user agents in an effort to improve interoperability.

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This specification is a Superseded Recommendation. A newer specification exists that is recommended for new adoption in place of this specification.

The W3C HTML Working Group is the W3C working group responsible for this specification's progress.

A comprehensive test suite for this specification is maintained and kept up to date as part of the WebPlatform Tests project.

Work on evolutions of this specification proceeds at http://www.w3.org/TR/html/. The HTML5 Recommendation represents a milestone in the development of HTML but far from being the end of the road and improvements are already well under way. It is possible that future versions will no longer be published as a monolithic specification but rather as a set of smaller modules. Irrespective of whether that is the case or not, http://www.w3.org/TR/html/ will be maintained as the entry point to the entirety of HTML technology.

Work on extending this specification typically proceeds through extension specifications which should be consulted to see what new features are being reviewed.

The bulk of the text of this specification is also available in the WHATWG HTML Living Standard, under a license that permits reuse of the specification text.

This document has been reviewed by W3C Members, by software developers, and by other W3C groups and interested parties, and is endorsed by the Director as a W3C Recommendation.

Work on this specification is also done at the WHATWG. The W3C HTML working group actively pursues convergence of the HTML specification with the WHATWG living standard, within the bounds of the W3C HTML working group charter. There are various ways to follow this work at the WHATWG:

For purposes of the W3C Patent Policy, this Superseded Recommendation has the same status as an active Recommendation; it retains licensing commitments and remains available as a reference for old -- and possibly still deployed -- implementations, but is not recommended for future implementation. New implementations should follow the latest version of the HTML specification.