Basic HTML is fine if all you want to do is make a superminimalist website. For enhanced functionality, you can turn to the myriad JavaScript libraries, but wouldn't it be better to have those functions directly in the browser?
Enter Polymer. The library lets you easily create components that can in turn be used as though they were HTML tags.
In the above video, InfoWorld's Martin Heller takes you through the basics of Polymer, including how to design your own components or deploy one of the many prebuilt options.