Differences between HTML, XML and XBRL

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a standard way of marking up a document so it can be published on the World Wide Web and viewed in a browser.  It provides a set of pre-defined tags describe on how content appears in a browser.  For example, it describes the font and color of text.  It gives little information on meaning or context. XML (Extensible Markup Language) uses tags to identify the meaning, context and structure of data. 


XML is a standard language which is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).  XML does not replace HTML; it is a complementary format that is platform independent, allowing XML data to be rendered on any device such as a computer, cell phone, PDA or tablet device.  It enables rich, structured data to be delivered in a standard, consistent way.  Whereas HTML offers a fixed, pre-defined number of tags, XML neither defines nor limits tags.  Instead, XML provides a framework for defining tags (i.e. taxonomy) and the relationship between them (i.e. schema).


XBRL is an XML-based schema that focuses specifically on the requirements of business reporting.  XBRL builds upon XML, allowing accountants and regulatory bodies to identify items that are unique to the business reporting environment.  The XBRL schema defines how to create XBRL documents and XBRL taxonomies, providing users with a set of business information tags that allows users to identify business information in a consistent way.  XBRL is also extensible in that users are able to create their own XBRL taxonomies that define and describe tags unique to a given environment.