- Definition and Overview

C-HTML (for "Compact HTML") is a subset of the HTML markup language that works on DoCoMo's i-mode mobile phones. C-HTML also adds several additional features not found in standard HTML, notably the accesskeys, phone number shortcuts for links, and emoji pictorial characters as locally extended Shift-JIS, all concepts borrowed halfway from HDML/WML.

C-HTML was developed by ACCESS and major Japanese handset manufacturers in 1998 and is an alternative to WML and XHTML Basic. It is considered superior by some people as it is compatible with HTML, thus allowing C-HTML websites to be viewed using standard web browsers and created using standard web tools, with a minimum of post-processing and validation.

In addition, C-HTML does not have the "card" structure of WML, thought by some to be clumsy.

XHTML Basic is expected to replace C-HTML in the near future as more compliant user agents are developed. (XHTML is now supported by au/KDDI's EZ wireless data services in Japan and many other WAP operators around the world.)

External link

• Compact HTML for Small Information Appliances — W3C NOTE 09-Feb-1998 (http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209/)

See also

• Microbrowser
• Information appliance