Is there any way to get a representation of a WMS legend in a form that isn't an image? eg XML
Using an image for the website in our system will mean the text is not sharp, it doesn't resize with the web site, and the format of it is limited to what WMS provides.
Geoserver supports GetLegendGraphics in all the same formats than GetMap. For example http://demo.opengeo.org/geoserver/wfs?service=wms&version=1.3.0&request=getcapabilities seems to suppport also SVG which might suit well for you. Documentation at http://docs.geoserver.org/stable/en/user/services/wms/get_legend_graphic/legendgraphic.html is also worth reading.
