HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible, Fifth Edition

Chapter 22. Creating Mobile Documents

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding the Evolution of the Mobile Web

• XHTML Basic 1.1

• Mobile Web Development Tools

As I've repeatedly pointed out, the Web and its technologies have grown up. Starting as a simple, text-only medium, the Web is now capable of delivering almost any kind of media. The underlying technologies, HTML and HTTP, have also evolved to better support this growth.

One inevitable side-effect of a popular delivery technology is its rapid adoption by other media devices. Today, it isn't just Web browsers on PCs that access Web content and use Web-related technologies—devices such as mobile phones, mall kiosks, and even ATMs utilize the technology. However, many of these devices have limited resources and cannot make full use of HTML or display the same rich content that a dedicated PC browser can. As a result, if you intend to deliver content via one of these resource-constrained devices, you must limit the scope of your code appropriately.

This chapter covers XHTML Basic, a specification designed for smaller devices. It also covers some ancillary technologies that help deploy content to these devices.

Tip

Before taking the time to create content for mobile devices, ask yourself these questions:

• Does my audience need my content on their mobile devices?

• Does my content lend itself to mobile devices?

• Can I spend the time and other resources to keep both my mobile and traditional content up-to-date and in sync?

If you answer even one of these questions ...