HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is a simple language that tells a web browser, like Internet Explorer, what a website looks like and how it works. When you go to a web page, the browser reads the HTML from that page and translates it into the images, text, colors and actions you see on your screen.

Everything on the web has HTML behind it, even the page you're reading this very second. If you want to see for yourself what HTML looks like, click on "View" in the browser menu bar and choose "View Source"... and that's what this page looks like in HTML. It's kinda like seeing your bones through an X-ray machine!

HTML organizes information--like putting line breaks between paragraphs, making bulleted lists and sizing pages. It also formats text by dictating the color, font, size and style. HTML makes websites interactive by creating links and moving images. It even communicates information that you don't see on the page, like that title that's in the bar at the top of your browser.

It's really like learning any other language. If you've never seen it before, HTML seems like a jumble of letters and symbols, but once you understand it you can read and use it easily. It's universal, too. That means browsers in both France and Ohio are able to read and use the same HTML.