Editing XHTML Basic

{{Short description|XML-based structured markup language}}
{{update|date=October 2013}} <!-- It "will replace WML and C-HTML as more compliant user agents are developed"? Come on now, nobody has touched this article since 2006? -->

{{HTML}}'''XHTML Basic''' is an [[XML]]-based structured [[markup language]] primarily designed for simple (mainly ''[[handheld]]'') [[user agent]]s, often found in mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, pagers, and set-top boxes..

XHTML Basic is a subset of [[XHTML 1.1]], defined using [[XHTML Modularization]] including a reduced set of modules for document structure, images, forms, basic tables, and object support. XHTML Basic is suitable for [[mobile phone]]s, [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDA]]s, [[pager]]s, and [[Interactive television|settop boxes]].

XHTML Basic was once intended to replace older technologies like WML and C-HTML as more compliant user agents were developed. However, with the rise of '''[[HTML5]]''' as the dominant web standard, XHTML Basic has been largely supplanted. HTML5's rich feature set and cross-device compatibility have rendered separate mobile-specific languages like WML, C-HTML, and XHTML Basic unnecessary. Today, HTML5 provides a unified platform for creating websites that work across all devices, making XHTML Basic largely irrelevant in modern web development.

One significant advantage of XHTML Basic over WML and C-HTML is that XHTML Basic pages can be rendered differently in [[web browser]]s and on handheld devices, eliminating the need for creating two different versions of the same page.

The initial specification for XHTML Basic was released in 2000. In 2006, the specification was revised to version 1.1, incorporating six new features to better serve the small-device community. The latest update of the specification by the [[W3C]] has been performed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|title=XHTML™ Basic 1.1 - Second Edition|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/index.html|access-date=2022-01-25|website=www.w3.org}}</ref>

== Latest Developments (2018 Update) ==
The '''2018''' update to XHTML Basic by the '''[[W3C]]''' focused on improving interoperability with current technologies, ensuring XHTML Basic pages remain usable across a broader range of modern devices, including those that have adopted more recent web standards. These changes aimed to refine how XHTML Basic interacts with modern networking environments, enhancing compatibility with newer handheld devices and browsers that now more frequently rely on '''[[HTML5]]'''.

While XHTML Basic remains functional, it is considered outdated in comparison to modern '''HTML5''', which has become the dominant standard for mobile-first design. '''HTML5''' includes features for multimedia, graphics, and responsive layouts, making it far more versatile for current web development needs.

==DOCTYPE==
To validate as XHTML Basic, a document must contain the following [[Document Type Declaration]], or DOCTYPE:
:<code>&lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML Basic 1.1//EN"<br />"<nowiki>http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/xhtml-basic11.dtd"</nowiki>&gt;</code>

A complete [[XML#Schemas and validation|valid]] and [[Well-formed XML document|well-formed]] example is:
<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML Basic 1.1//EN"
    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/xhtml-basic11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>Hello</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Hello <a href="http://example.org/">world</a>.</p>
  </body>
</html>
</syntaxhighlight>

Served with a [[MIME]] type of "application/xhtml+xml".

==XHTML-Print==
XHTML-Print, which became a W3C Recommendation in September 2006, is a specialized version of XHTML Basic designed for documents printed from information appliances to low-end [[Printer (computing)|printers]].<ref name="xhtml-print">{{cite web
|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xhtml-print-20060920/ |title=XHTML-Print, W3C Recommendation 20 September 2006 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |date=2006-09-20 |access-date=2008-07-19}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[XHTML]]
*[[List of document markup languages]]
*[[Comparison of document markup languages]]

==External links==
*[http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/ XHTML Basic]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060114192206/http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/design/xhtmlinfo/ An Overview of Mobile Versions of XHTML]
* [http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/ W3C Mobile Web Best Practices] (for XHTML Basic 1.1)

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:XHTML]]
[[Category:World Wide Web Consortium standards]]