I understand why someone might think that, but it’s wrong. 2022 was misinterpreted as the year HTML 5 would be ready. That’s wrong. HTML 5 is ready today.

In an interview by Tech Republic, for a techie audience, Ian Hickson, the editor of the HTML 5 working draft, was asked to give a timeline of the HTML 5 recommendation.

One date should have come out of that interview, but another, much further away did instead: 2022 – the date of the final proposed recommendation, which actually translates to:

require at least two browsers to completely pass [HTML 5 test suites]

Let’s put this in context of another spec that has taken a very long time: CSS 2.1.

CSS 2.1 is CSS that I’m certain you’re familiar with. I’m certain you use it day to day without any thought as to whether it’s a completed spec.

It’s been in development for over 10 years, and it’s only just become a candidate recommendation (23rd April 2009).

That said, it doesn’t have two browsers completely supporting it. Only Internet Explorer 8 supports the full CSS 2.1 spec.

Did that stop you from using CSS 2.1? I suspect not. Will that stop us from using HTML 5? It certainly shouldn’t. HTML 5 is available and ready to be used today.

What is the important HTML 5 date?

October 2009.

This October is the last call for the HTML 5 working draft.

That means, that issues with the spec, enhancements, bugs, anything, it all needs to be in and submitted and written in to the spec for October this year (it can go through reiterations, the this is the main deadline).

The WHATWG is completely open for anyone to contribute their ideas and suggestions.

You can sign up to the mailing lists, look through the backlog of mailing list. You can communicate directly using IRC and there’s even a complete log of all the IRC history. All available from http://whatwg.org.

2022, or when will HTML 5 be ready? originally appeared on HTML5 Doctor on July 21, 2009.