A system and method for conveying content-specific characteristics related to terminal capabilities and user preferences, and adapting content for particular terminals in response to the conveyed information. A content type or other message characteristic that is recognizable by the terminal is identified, as are operational confines of the terminal by which the content type is to comply. The content type is associated with the operational confines of the terminal. The content type and associated operational confines are provided to the network server for use by the network server in delivering messages to the terminal as dictated by the operational confines.