The World Wide Web consortium (W3C) has published an early draft of HTML 5, the first major revision of the web markup language since 1997.

The consortium’s HTML Working Group is creating HTML 5 with the primary aim of making it an open, royalty-free specification for rich web content and web applications, according to an official statement by the W3C.

The HTML Working Group comprises nearly five hundred participants, including representatives from AOL, Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, and Opera.

New features include APIs for drawing two-dimensional graphics, embedding and controlling audio and video content, maintaining persistent client-side data storage, and enabling users to edit documents and parts of documents interactively.

The HTML 5 specification is intended to improve interoperability and reduce software costs by offering precise rules on not only how to handle all correct HTML documents but also how to recover from errors.

"I am glad to see that the community of developers, including browser vendors, is working together to create the best possible path for the Web,” said Tim Berners-Lee, author of the first version of HTML and W3C Director.

“To integrate the input of so many people is hard work, as is the challenge of balancing stability with innovation, pragmatism with idealism."

The final version of HTML 5 is not expected until the end of 2010.