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According to the W3C, accessing the Web from a portable device is far from being the convenience it should be. Users often find that their favourite sites are not accessible or not as easy to use on their mobile phone as on their desktop computer, while content providers have difficulties building sites that work well on all types and configurations of mobile phones offering Web access.

W3C's Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) will look to address two key issues

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arising from this. The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group will look to create authoring guidelines and best practices for content providers and the Device Description Working Group will develop improved device description methods that website authors can refer to when tailoring sites to specific devices.

Any recommendations will be designed to integrate with existing profiles and established standards including XHTML, SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) for audiovisual content and SVG scalable vector graphics.

The MWI will be seeing co-operation with other interested parties, including the Open Mobile Alliance and 3GPP. It has already received sponsorship from W3C members France Telecom, HP, MobileAware, Segala M Test, Vodafone and Volantis.

The initiative was heralded by Web-inventor and W3C director Tim Berners-Lee.

'Mobile access to the Web has been a second class experience for far too long,' he said. 'MWI recognises the mobile device as a first class participant, and will produce materials to help developers make the mobile Web experience worthwhile.'