Will the mobile web alter your internet strategy?
We have been using desktop PCs to access the web for years now and so we sort of expect folk to be able to view our sites in a fairly standard shape and size. For a clumsy few years in the mid 2000s we were told that we should optimise for computers and their ever bizaire screen resolutions but we managed to sidestep that issue by ignoring it. Conveniently the laptops got better and the screens got bigger and these days we are able to get a screen on our laps that is almost as gigantic as the ones we had on our desks.
A quick look at Google Analytics lets me know that one of our most well liked sites is accessed by people with resolutions of no less than 1024×900 which is quite a change from a few years ago, but a welcome one.
This all appears good news for the web developer but there is a new choice and that’s the mobile web. Again, most people evaded making separate web pages for those using tiny screen mobile phones ( and again, we just ignored them ) but smartphones are now normal and they have different demands. Yes, they can view full screen but have you tried it? The resolution might be good but they’re almost impossible to read without zooming in or squinting.
So for those wanting to write for the mobile web properly they need to design with this under consideration and it doesn’t end a smartphones. Web design has suddenly altered.
The web is going everywhere and now we have got the iPad making its debut shortly and there have recently been news of a cluster of other systems looking to ride the wave of the new ‘tablet PC’ popularity.
Again, these bigger format screens will be able to handle standard internet sites out the box, but Apple have just stated that they will never support Flash. So , at the very least, if you’ve a Flash site then you are going to have to think about changing it or at the very least offering an alternative.
All this simply adds to the marketing budget of organisations whilst filling the pockets of web design agencies who are looking to ‘help’ you compete, there is, however, an alternative way.
Though it’s been around for years, CSS is still something many tiny companies see as alien technology. By utilizing CSS nevertheless , your internet site should be viewable by any person, with no regard for the kind of browser or size of screen. If designed properly, your website should be perfectly good for everyone.
But is this the end of the issue? Can we rest knowing our pages can be viewed or is there more to it than that?
Well yes, there is more to it because new devices now have new interfaces and we are being asked to dump the mouse and keyboard and feel our way around the screen by simply touching it. Once only found in scifi movies, the tactile touch sensitive screen is now a standard sight and some of the latest technology depends on it for even the most common-or-garden usage.
Hence there is a new age on us and it suggests more work for firms, more for site design agencies and far more for the web marketeers and seo trainers amongst us, though that will wait for another day…
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