W3C apologises for HTML5 logo confusion

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has had to revise its HTML5 logo explanatory material following confusion about the scope of the standard's reach.

The W3C said that the logo is a "general purpose visual identity" that covers a range of graphics software including HTML5, CSS, SVG and WOFF.

This branding was too wide for some, and the W3C has now said that CSS3 is not part of the HTML5 specification, albeit with a caveat.

"However, many HTML5 web sites and applications do take advantage of CSS3 for styling and presentation," the W3C's head of comms, Ian Jacobs, explained in a blog post.

The clarification was thought necessary so that the W3C could tackle much of the confusion caused by what was apparently something of a throwaway announcement.

"We stated in the FAQ that this is not the official logo yet, but clearly the mixed message - 'high visibility launch' along with 'not yet official' - was confusing to some and caused others to feel slighted. I understand and apologise for that," said Jacobs.

"The most unified criticism has centred around the FAQ's original statement that the logo means 'a broad set of open web technologies', which some believe 'muddies the waters' of the open web platform."

There are likely to be wry smiles at Google, which said on announcing the dropping of the H.264 web codec in favour of WebM that HTML5 development is currently hamstrung.