HTML5 / CSS3

HTML5 is the latest version of HTML or Hypertext Markup Language. It is currently only fully supported by a handful of browsers but the next year should see a large increase in usage. It isn't expected to be completed until 2014, but the features that are available now are a great way to become acquainted with HTML5 and add some cool elements to your website.

CSS 3

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) offer increased flexibility in the presentation of website content. In essence, it just makes everything prettier. Although CSS3 isn't supported by all browsers yet, it's becoming increasingly popular because it makes these changes so much easier than trying to get the same effect using something like a Javascript plugin or creating slightly different versions of the exact same image.

One drawback to using CSS is the requirement to implement filters to change how something will appear onscreen using different browsers. Although Internet Explorer is known for bugs, CSS can still be incorrectly interpreted by Firefox or Chrome. As such, some web designers have created different CSS codes to be sent to different browsers, or use filters to cut off CSS delivery completely.

CSS3 offers some exciting new features to enhance the appearance of a website. Although these features might not be absolutely necessary to the functionality of a website, users are coming to expect a website to look awesome as well as operate cleanly. CSS3 makes it easier for designs that will make visitors "ooh and aah" over them to be implemented.