The kitchen sink.
The official HTML standard calls itself a kitchen sink — everything but the kitchen sink, the basin where all of it ends up. And the picture it draws of itself is exactly that: a sink, plumbed into the web.
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CSS SVG MathML ServiceWorkers │ built on top
└────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌───────┐ ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IDB │ │ │
│ Fetch │ │ THE SINK │ ← HTML
│ CSP │ │ "this specification" │
│ PNG │ │ │
│ Opus │ │ │
│ AV1 │ │ │
└───────┘ └────────────────────────────────────────┘
tools ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
alongside │ HTTP TLS DOM Unicode WebIDL │ the plumbing
│ MIME URL XML JavaScript Encoding │ it stands on
└────────────────────────────────────────┘The sink is plumbed into HTTP, URL, MIME, the DOM. The soap and sponges on the side — PNG, Opus, AV1, Fetch — are the tools you reach for. And then you also wash CSS, SVG and MathML in the same basin. One sink, for everything. It's honest. It's even funny. And it's the whole problem.
A living standard still needs tending
You can do anything in this sink — that's the point, and the catch. It's called a living standard, but living things don't stay alive on their own. A bathroom doesn't stay clean because it's alive. It stays clean because someone tends it. And lately, no one has. The pressure comes from all three sides at once — and the basin fills with everything that doesn't fit.
we now build ▸ documents · apps · layouts · interfaces
(far more than the basin was meant to hold)
▲
sink-embeds ◂ <model-viewer> ◂ threejs ◂ iframes ◂ video-players
╲ ╲ │ ╱ ╱
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CSS SVG MathML ServiceWorkers │ still on top
└────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌───────┐ ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IDB │ │ 🗑 tailwind 🗑 bootstrap 🗑 jQuery │ ──cdn #7
│ Fetch │ │ 🗑 react 🗑 vue 🗑 the 14th frmwrk │ ──polyfill
│ CSP │ │ 💩 widgets 💩 utility-class soup │ ──shim
│ PNG │ │ 🗑 dep 🗑 dep 🗑 dep ☠ css won't │ ──cdn #1
│ Opus │ │ ~ ~ ~ grey water ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ │
│ AV1 │ │ THE SINK (clogged) │ ← HTML
└───────┘ └────────────────────────────────────────┘
tools ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
alongside │ HTTP TLS DOM Unicode WebIDL │ the plumbing
+ webasm │ MIME URL XML JavaScript Encoding │ (ground shifting)
└────────────────────────────────────────┘From below, new plumbing arrives — WebAssembly changes what the basin even sits on. From the side, new materials pile up — video, 3D, interactive media with no real home in the markup, so we bolt them onto the rim. From above, we ask it to do far more than show a document. And so the basin fills with what doesn't fit: utility classes, widgets, a dozen CDNs that all do the same thing, framework after framework re-solving the same problem. The one line that held it together — the clean separation of meaning, structure, and design — is no longer a standard anyone agrees on. The sink still works. But the water's gone grey.
So we're upgrading the sink
We're not here to tear it out. HTML is a living standard, and we want to keep it that way — without letting it sprawl. We respect the ideas underneath and give them room to breathe again. Everything that used to balance on the rim moves inside, as native elements. Every filetype gets a home.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CSS SVG MathML ServiceWorkers │
│ + Markdown + Webapps + Documents + Editors │ built on top
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IDB │ │ │
│ Fetch │ │ │
│ CSP │ │ │
│ PNG │ │ A CLEANER BASIN │ ← HTML6
│ Opus │ │ meaning · structure · design │
│ AV1 │ │ │
│ MP4 │ │ │
│ OBJ │ │ │
│ GLB │ │ │
│ ICS │ │ │
│ PDF │ │ │
│ WEBP │ │ │
└────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
tools + ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
filetypes, │ HTTP TLS DOM Unicode WebIDL │ the plumbing
now native │ MIME URL XML JavaScript Encoding + WebAssembly│ it stands on
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘The basin is empty again — clean ceramic. CSS, SVG, MathML and ServiceWorkers still sit on top, now joined by Markdown, web-apps, documents and editors: everything the modern web is actually used for. The filetypes that used to be bolted on from outside — MP4, OBJ, GLB, ICS, PDF, WEBP — are native tools on the side, no embed, no third-party player. And WebAssembly joins the plumbing at the bottom, because the foundation moved and now the basin sits on it on purpose. 150 elements, 0 build steps.
HTML7 — connect it to the water
Here's the thing almost everyone forgets about the kitchen sink: the most beautiful basin is useless until someone connects it to the water. HTML7 is the line going down — to law, to region, to the living world the page lives in. Same basin as HTML6, now plumbed in.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CSS SVG MathML ServiceWorkers │
│ + GlyphMarkdown + Webapps + Documents + Editors │ built on top
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IDB │ │ │
│ Fetch │ │ │
│ CSP │ │ │
│ PNG │ │ THE LIVING BASIN │ ← HTML7
│ Opus │ │ meaning · structure · design │
│ AV1 │ │ + <norm> <cite> <unit> <license> │
│ MP4 │ │ │
│ OBJ │ │ │
│ GLB │ │ │
│ ICS │ │ │
│ PDF │ │ │
│ WEBP │ │ │
└────────┘ └─────┬─┬────────────┬─┬──────────────────┬─┬──────┘
tools + │ │ │ │ │ │
filetypes, │ │ │ │ │ │
now native ( )─(⏱) ( )─(⏱) ( )─(⏱)
analytics legal legal
+ OpenGraph regulatories standards (in)
┌────────────┴─┴────────────┴─┴──────────────────┴─┴──────┐
│ Law · Rights · Invoices · Bathrooms · Local Adapters │
│ DSGVO · SEPA · BGB · currency · OpenGraph · SEO · meta │ the water main
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
the community · the city · the state · the EUThe basin is the same one from HTML6 — identical ceramic. What changes is that it's finally connected.
The pipes running down carry the things a page owes to the world it lives in: one valve meters analytics and
OpenGraph, one legal regulatories, one is the intake for legal standards — and the timers (⏱) are the joke
with a true core: law changes, deadlines run, mandates expire, SEO and meta drift. The legal components keep
the water clean and check that every adapter for your region is connected and current.
<consent> knows the DSGVO, <sepa-mandate> the SEPA rulebook,
<norm> resolves § 433 BGB or Art. 6 DSGVO to your jurisdiction. The water main below —
DSGVO, SEPA, BGB, currency, OpenGraph, SEO, meta — is the city it taps into. One basin anyone can install.
Water only an HTML7 region adapter can turn on.
HTML67 is part of Project Wilhelm.
A standard is only the first stone — and this is just the beginning. See Performance for the numbers and the Roadmap to 2030.
Dig deeper via the sidebar: HTML6, HTML7, GlyphMarkdown, Design-DNA.