While I agree with you that HTML isn't a real programming language, I disagree with your reason. Whether something is a programming language (I'll leave out the 'real', unless you can indicate what "unreal" programming languages are) isn't related to how many people can lear it or not. HTML isn't a programming language. It doesn't calculate or drive anything, not in the most remote meaning of those words. It only describes a document - it's a language, but not a programming language.

As for the most remedial person can learn HTML, you'd be surprised how few people actually know HTML. Even after 7 years, the programmers at Netscape still cannot fully parse HTML.

Abigail