15 Outstanding HTML5 and CSS3 Frameworks

Most recently HTML5 and CSS3 have taken the web by storm. The W3C standard put out earlier in 2009-2010 showcases many new features and element properties which redefine how web designers work. The amount of control available in new-age web frameworks allows developers to streamline the work process and complete projects in half the time.

Although there aren’t floods of examples, the open source community for HTML5 frameworks is expanding quickly. Below we have 15 of the most creative HTML5 and CSS3 frameworks for web developers. If you know of any others worth mentioning or have your own to share please leave a response in the comment thread.

52 Framework

52 Framework is one of the most popular HTML5 and CSS3 frameworks available today. The features include rounded corners, text shadows, classic HTML5 markup, internal grid system, among many others! It’s a free community-run project with many contributors over time. Check out their demo page for an in-depth look.

CSS3 Action Framework

ccs3 action 15 Outstanding HTML5 and CSS3 Frameworks

The Action framework has been in development since April 2010 and has seen minor improvements. Namely the open source project is housed in a Google Code repository where all updates and revisions are logged. Although not entirely active, the community is growing. You can check out their wiki for more features.

Less Framework

Less Framework gives you major control over cross-device CSS grids without the hassle. Inline media queries are the key here which allow for simple stylesheet switching at the drop of a hat. Each layout is carefully designed to fit into the most common device screens. All designs are fit to run from iOS and Android browsers back to Internet Explorer 6.

PhoneGap

Another great mobile platform PhoneGap has started taking the stage. It’s an open source platform built for HTML5/CSS3 apps to run in mobile devices. This can include in-browser and native device apps. Apps are built using standard HTML5 elements with careful JavaScript media.

Sencha Touch

Although not all mobile devices are touch screens by now, there is a growing market segment. Sencha Touch is a fantastic framework to download and run effects in touch screen devices. Tablet PCs and smartphones are some of the most anticipated candidates, with testing for future technologies in the works.

Jo HTML5

johtml5 15 Outstanding HTML5 and CSS3 Frameworks

User interface is an important feature to each website. Jo HTML5 is a powerful UI library for implementing creative page elements. Interface elements can include forms, body text, input fields, page headers and so much more. This is also a fantastic framework which ties into PhoneGap and allows for seamless attachment.

Yahoo! User Interface Library 2

The Yahoo! User Interface library is possibly some of the most documented and agile code. It allows developers to create amazing animations and effects with just a few lines of JavaScript. The YUI2 library contains some fantastic utilities and widgets, all free to download and manipulate. Yahoo! also offers powerful developer tools for those interested.

Switch to HTML5

Switch to HTML5 is a generic tool with a lot of power. It allows developers access to the numerous elements and sub-properties available in the new specification. There are also many options for meta information including Locale and charset. The tool may seem a bit overwhelming at first but give it some time to really sink in.

HTML5 Reset

Many of the popular CSS resets have shown what’s truly possible with just a small library. HTML5 reset brings all of this to the table again offering preformatted structures and layouts. The code itself is simple and flexible enough to move into any position needed. It also saves web developers time and money put into the startup work for a project.

HTML5/CSS3 Reset

Similar to the framework above the HTML5/CSS3 reset offers a whole new set of rules. Those who are familiar with the new properties in CSS3 will be delighted to see just how much control is built in out of the box. You can check out the Github repository above and skim their readme.txt for any useful info.

Phono

phono 15 Outstanding HTML5 and CSS3 Frameworks

Although mostly a JS framework Phono is a new addition to the mobile lineup. Web developers are able to include a few lines of code to maximize the proficiency of mobile browsing. Tasks include speeding up HTTP requests and manipulating DOM objects based on the device specs. The service has recently come out of beta and offers an API key at signup.

Alloy UI

Another popular UI set, this is a fantastic starting point for developers. Those who are unsure how to continue about a design should look for no further solutions. Alloy is an incredible set of UI elements which shows just how much HTML5 can offer us.

YAML

Yet Another Multicolumn Layout is one of the most popular grid systems to date. It includes powerful CSS properties which allow you to manipulate the values of HTML columns, tables, and all other containers. The wrappers and IDs involved are based off simple classes which can also be re-designed and edited at will.

RGraph: HTML5 Canvas Graph Library

rgraph html5 15 Outstanding HTML5 and CSS3 Frameworks

So many popular JS frameworks have been released recently which allow for on-the-fly graph generation. This has grown in popularity as the mount of information needing to be shared via the Internet has increased from year to year. As a result we are not seeing popular frameworks such as RGraph offer HTML5-friendly solutions.

Cartagen

Cartagen is a specification for design and styling maps. Just like CSS for styling web pages, GSS is a specification for designing interactive digital mapping sequences. dapted for dynamic data sources, GSS can define changing geographic elements, display multiple datasets, and even respond to contextual user-derived tags.

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3 Comments

  1. Kyle

    01.14.2011

    Why not html 5 boilerplate?

    • Mufti Ali

      01.15.2011

      Yes, boilerplate is the popular one, thanks for adding Kyle

  2. Nathália Torezani

    04.29.2011

    Hi, Jake! My name is Nathália, I’m a journalist at iMasters (http://imasters.com.br/), one of the largest developer communities in Brazil. We are starting a plan to improve our content, by translating some great materials that we unfortunately can only find in English.
    We´d like to republish this article of yours.
    Can you contact me?