The results as reported in the article (and the original LA Times article [1]) make me think that it was multiple choice, which on an identification question is really pushing particular results. It may indicate that a large number of people don't know what HTML (or the other terms) refer to, but it can't really be taken as indicating what they think they refer to, just what wrong answers the survey presented for them to guess.

Neither article provides a link or citation to the survey itself, just indicates that it was done by a particular coupon website (which seems to have done it as way to get free advertising by way of a pseudoscience press release.)

[1] http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-1-10-ame...