WML

Wireless Markup Language (WML) is an XML-based markup language used to author pages for WAP-enabled mobile devices. It was developed by the WAP Forum, which later became the Open Mobile Alliance, in the late 1990s to provide content suitable for narrow-band wireless networks, small screens, and limited input capabilities. WML pages were designed to be delivered over slower connections and rendered on devices with constrained resources.

A WML document is organized around the concept of decks and cards. A deck acts as a container for multiple cards, and each card represents a single screen of content that a user can view. Navigation between screens is accomplished through links and actions defined within the cards, using elements such as anchors and event-driven actions. WML content uses lightweight tags for text, images, and simple forms, and supports basic user interaction through input controls and selection fields. WML content is typically authored in an XML syntax and delivered with the MIME type text/vnd.wap.wml. WMLScript provides a limited client-side scripting capability to handle simple logic on the device.

Historically, WML served as a core technology for early mobile Internet access on GSM and GPRS networks, enabling formatted content when HTML-based pages were impractical to display. With the advent of WAP 2.0, XHTML Mobile Profile and standard HTML over mobile browsers, WML gradually declined in favor of more familiar web technologies. Today it is largely considered a legacy standard, though some older devices and certain regional networks may still support it.