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By Cindy KrumIs your website device independent -
accessible from any Web-enabled device?
In a nutshell, device independence is the idea that your website
should display correctly regardless of the device rendering the content.
Developing or updating sites with a device independent mindset
requires the least overhead, builds on the value of the existing site
and accounts for technological innovations (including the rapid
deployment of new mobile devices) and the imminent growth of the
mobile Web. Creating sites that are device independent also avoids
many technical pitfalls of other options, while providing a unified
marketing message to your site patrons.
Many companies have jumped on the mobile bandwagon and
ignored the idea of device independence by creating separate mobile
versions of their site on separate mobile domains, mobile subdomains
or in mobile subfolders. But this alternative is expensive,
overcomplicated and short-sighted.
Device independence is a challenging task. The myriad of Webaccessible
devices include traditional computers, game consoles,
smart phones, pocket PCs, PDAs, BlackBerries, Web-enabled navigation
systems and any other, new Web-enabled technology yet to be
developed. Strategic decisions must be made and updates to existing
sites are needed to truly be prepared for the mobile Web.
What is Different about the
Mobile Web?
In reality, mobile devices share the same Web as traditional computers
- the term "mobile Web" is an indication of the current technological
shortcomings of mobile Web access, whereby various limitations
influence the design of mobile-accessible sites. In all likelihood, the
term "mobile Web" will be temporary. That is, until our technology has
improved such that websites will reliably render the same on mobile
devices as they do on traditional devices.
While today, U.S. mobile traffic is lower than predicted, there is a
presence and traffic is expected to grow dramatically over the next
couple of years. The release of the iPhone and similar Web-enabled
phones, coupled with the development of higher bandwidth infrastructure
and the increased availability of free WiFi should jump-start
the growth and acceptance of mobile Web technologies.
The mobile Web provides an immeasurable opportunity for those
willing to get in early and grow with the industry but it also presents
a situation where webmasters will have to stay on their toes to keep
their edge. There are a number of hurdles reminiscent to the infancy
of the Internet itself, like non-standard browser rendering, un-reliable
connections, slow download speeds and carrier limitations.
Device Independent Design
Best Practices
There are a number of tips and techniques regarding development,
usability, navigation and promotion that can help ensure success when
creating a device independent site or adapting an existing site for
proper display on a mobile device.
Development:
One of the largest hurdles when developing or adapting an existing
site for the mobile Web is the hundreds of different browser, useragent
and screen setting combinations that make it near impossible to
predict how a site will render for any given viewer. Rather than concerning
yourself with the multitude of possibilities, develop your site
in XHTML to provide the best opportunity for your site to render correctly.
XHTML has rigid accessibility standards that make it ideal for
mobile devices where images may be pulled out by proxies and colors
or formatting may be distorted or lost on the smaller screen sizes.
Bandwidth and download speed issues also make it important to
minimize the file size of your pages. A good way to reduce file size is
by separating the design from the content using cascading style sheets
(CSS). Design style sheets with percentages rather than absolute positioning
to ensure that the website will display correctly, regardless of
the screen size where the site is being displayed. Once content is
separated from the design, you can use multiple style sheets to serve
different content, based on the type of device that is rendering the page.
For example, if your traditional site has large images or animations
you can use the style sheet to replace the images with smaller files or
alternative text.
Navigation: With limited bandwidth and slow download speed, clear navigation
is crucial for a good mobile user experience. Be sure to name buttons
clearly and use good calls to action throughout your site. Have a
site map, provide crumb trails and keep nothing more than three
clicks away from the homepage to prevent people from getting lost
on your site.
In most cases, all menu and sub-menus on JavaScript navigation
will display, so use style sheets to replace complicated JavaScript navigation
with text links to the top level navigation. Another option is to
use display characteristics in the style sheet to make the navigation
appear at the bottom of the page rather than the top, and then use
jump links or bookmarks at the top of the page to direct people to the
main elements on the page. Be sure to avoid using embedded objects
or scripts as part of your mobile navigational scheme, as they might
not come through on all mobile devices.
Usability: When people make it to your site on a mobile device, they already
have a task in mind and are ready to interact with your brand. That
makes usability especially important, where users may already be having
trouble with device controls or struggling with an unreliable
Internet connection. For the best results, avoid using frames, flash and
any script language that might require a plug-in to render correctly.
The best way to improve the usability of your site is to make it as
intuitive as possible. Don't forget to provide information that would be
important to a person on a mobile device like addresses, maps, hours
of operation and phone numbers. For best results, link your address
to a mapping resource that has the option to send driving directions
to a mobile phone. It's also a good idea to make phone numbers clickable,
so users don't have to re-enter the number on their key pad. You
can also provide links that "Bookmark this Page" or "E-mail a link" to
help encourage users to return to your site.
Promotion: When your site is mobile ready and you are ready to drive traffic there
are a number of promotional options available on mobile devices.
Mobile ad serving and pay-per-click programs are both good places to
start. You should also create press releases announcing your "mobile
site" (even though it is really your normal site being displayed on a
mobile phone). Advertising for mobile sites is especially effective
when placed in public transportation venues, where commuters have
down time away from their computer. If it makes sense, you can also
mention your mobile site in other advertising efforts, or initiate a text
messaging campaign.
What is the Future of Mobile?Device independent websites are the way of the future. While the
mobile Web is still in its infancy, the good news is that we have learned
valuable lessons from early days of the traditional Web; so growth in
the mobile channel should be faster and less painful. Until there are
more uniform display standards for mobile browsers or the browsers
themselves advance to render websites exactly as they would on traditional
computers, we should build sites to the highest common
standard, in this case XHTML, and address rendering inconsistencies
on an ad-hoc basis.
As technology and bandwidth improve, the acceptance of the
mobile Web will become as widespread as the acceptance of the
Internet. Mobile video is already a reality for some and promises to
grow with YouTube's expansion into the mobile sector. Game consoles
are giving users the ability to access the Web on their TVs, surf the
Internet and compete with friends through an online connection.
Many banks are beginning to offer mobile banking and restaurants are
beginning to participate in programs that allow users to pay for meals
with text message codes. Major metropolitan areas are beginning to
provide free public WiFi and all of the major search engines have
secured agreements with auto or GPS manufacturers. The potential
for growth of the mobile Web is monumental. Many experts predict
mobile advertising spend to reach into the billions within the next
couple of years.
Fueling this explosion of growth in the mobile marketplace is, in
part, the variety of devices capable of Internet browsing. As outlined
above, that is a big part of the mobile challenge. Therefore, device
independence plays a key role and your site must be prepared.
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