As of October 29th there is a new element in HTML5: DATA. The DATA element is for defining content that has both human- and computer-readable data. Some examples of this are:
- Dates and times
- Numbers
- Colors
- Money
Each of these can be written in a way that a human will understand, while a computer might not. For example, a date can be written December 16th, Dec 16, 12/16/11, 16 December, and many other ways. While it is possible to teach computers to know that all those things are dates and what they meant. So you can set the value of a date on a data element with a standard format that computers can read.
<data value=“2011-12-16”>December 16th</data>
With the DATA element and its required attribute value you can define data for microformats and microdata as well as for scripts on your web page. The content displays in a format that humans appreciate and the value attribute has the content in a format that computers can read and use.
The DATA Element Replaces the TIME Element
In the same revision to the HTML5 specification that brought us the DATA element, it also removed the TIME element from the specification. While you might be disappointed, this is really a good thing. The TIME element was limited only to date and time formats and as such had a limited scope. With the DATA element you can mark up all sorts of things that can be defined in both human- and computer-readable formats, you are not just limited to dates and times.
How This Affects the Book
I submitted my final revision of the book on October 25, 2011—four days before this change went into effect. The book covers the TIME element, but does not include the DATA element.