More and more interest is shown for accessing the Web from various mobile, small devices, such as cell phones, pagers or PDA's. The Compact HTML submission addresses the specific requirements of those devices and proposes a subset of HTML that fulfills these requirements.
Last year, another submission has been made to address similar requirements, the HDML Submission. While the later proposed a format similar to but different from HTML, the Compact HTML Submission is closer to existing W3C recommendations.
The W3C staff has reviewed the submission and identified its close relationship with the HTML activity. With the release of HTML 4.0, the HTML Working Group is closed and W3C is considering future work on HTML. The Compact HTML submission should be considered in that perspective (see Next Steps below).
During the review, several points were raised, that could help to improve the proposal, such as the lack of support for internationalization and accessibility, two important concerns at W3C and two HTML 4.0 features. Please refer to W3C activities in these fields: I18N and WAI. Compact HTML also comprises some presentation attributes, that are not part of the HTML 4.0 strict DTD and that could be handled by style sheets.
Next Steps: W3C is organizing a workshop on Mobile Access. The Compact HTML submission fits well with the theme of this workshop. The submitters and other interested W3C members are encouraged to participate in the workshop to express their views on Compact HTML and to propose further action.
Another workshop is organized on the future of HTML. The compact HTML submission could also be presented there.
Should a new Working Group or Interest Group result from these workshops, the Compact HTML submission would be placed on its agenda.
The W3C membership is invited to discuss the disposition of the submission in the w3c-ac-forum mailing list or to advise the director in confidence via W3C staff contact.
Disclaimer: Placing a Submission on a Working Group agenda does not imply endorsement by either the W3C Staff or the participants of the Working Group, nor does it guarantee that the Working Group will agree to take any specific action on a Submission.