Huggers calls for HTML5 integrity

Responding to criticism that the BBC’s use of Flash in the iPlayer is against its commitment to open standards, Erik Huggers said on the BBC Internet Blog that HTML5 isn’t yet ready to be integrated into BBC products.

HTML5, which is under development, will provide an open standard for video playback in a web browser.

However, Huggers believes that the standard has gone off track and is calling for W3C to ensure that just one HTML5 is brought to the web.

His concern is that some browser vendors have been going down the route of proprietary HTML5 implementations.

This would undermine the principal of one single standard which allows online products to be developed with confidence that they will work right the way across the web.

At the moment Huggers believes that Flash remains the most efficient technology to deliver a high quality viewing experience.

Erik Huggers is the Director of BBC Future Media & Technology.