On February 02, 2024, the author came across a Mastodon post that made them laugh. They found it amusing that the html element didn’t have 100% support on CanIUse.com, considering they’ve been using it since 1994 without any issues. As a frequent user of Can I Use…, a site that tracks web technology adoption, the author found it surprising that the html, audio, a, and p elements all had the same 97.34% support. It turns out that a lot of the data on CanIUse.com comes from MDN, a trusted resource for the author. While investigating, the author discovered that certain features associated with the html element were deprecated and not standardized, which explains the lack of support. However, some browsers were listed as “Support Unknown,” accounting for 1.27% of the usage, contributing to the missing 2.66% support. The author also questions the accuracy of the claim that older browsers do not support the html element, as they are confident that those browsers did indeed support it. The author concludes by admitting their uncertainty and invites anyone with an explanation to share it. Despite their skepticism, the author still considers CanIUse.com a valuable resource
https://anderegg.ca/2024/02/02/why-isnt-the-html-element-100-supported