An XML schema and a set of user customization rules are utilized to produce a set of components that interact to provide a user-specific, document specific, multi-modal interface for an XML document. Each generated component provides a specific input and output mode. For example, one component could be an HTML component, which produces a HTML rendering of the XML tree while another component may be a speech component, which produces a speech-based rendering of the XML tree. A series of these components work together to produce a multi-modal view of the XML tree.