HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is a language that is widely used to created web pages with interactive elements. The very first version of HTML was published in 1999.

Hypertext refers to the way in which files, images or links to other web pages are made available in a given web page. As a markup language, HTML sets up tags for these images, texts or links that will perform the necessary function that they are destined to do when the user performs a specific action. It defines the outward structure of a web page semantically by denoting semantic structures for paragraphs, texts, images, links, quotes and so on.

HTML, CSS and Java put together make the Internet a lively web where information from web pages can be linked to each other for user access. HTML makes it possible for web browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc. to access web page data from local servers and broadcast it to a large audience, that is Internet users. HTML can incorporate programs written using JavaScript and include CSS to make complete web pages with unique layouts and design.

HTML 3.2

HTML 3.2 was released on May 7^th 1996 by the W3C. It was developed in close conjunction with several technological partners including IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, etc. HTML 3.2 is an extension of HTML 2.0. HTML 3.2 is released with backward compatibility, meaning web pages running on HTML 3.0 will also support those created using 2.0. Newly added feature list includes applets, tables, superscripts and subscripts, text flow around images and so on.

Doctype Declaration

The previous versions of HTML web pages did not typically begin with <!DOCTYPE> declaration. HTML 3.2 begins with <!DOCTYPE> declaration which makes it easy for validation tools, browsers and even software to determine the HTML version of the document.

Simple and easy to use

HTML was designed to be a language that will be easy to master for both users and browsers. HTML 3.0 builds upon 2.0 certain new elements that further simplifies the work to be performed by web developers such as text flow around figures and math, tables, etc. without losing the document’s simplicity.

Cross-platform compatibility

HTML inherently was created as a language for the web that can break cross-platform compatibility issues. It can work seamlessly on multiple systems like Windows, Mac, enterprise Workstations or non-visual media such as speech synthesizers. HTML 3.0 has improved compatibility for on-graphical clients which enhances its ability to render data on a variety of screen sizes. The font and presentation of the web page will be automatically adjusted to fit into the host machine.

Multiple ways of creating web pages

HTML 3.0 and 3.2 offers authors multiple ways of creating web pages. They can type the tags in or use SGML applications or even export filters from common word processing formats for quick creation of web pages.

Non-visual media support

HTML 3.2 (3.0 onwards) provides support for visually impaired users. There are markups for inline figures with rich descriptions which makes easy for the author to create web pages that cater to a diverse segment of users.