The key question is not how to present content for whatever device, it's whether the content and structure you have is appropriate for the user experience on the given device.
For some sites, just using CSS to reformat will be fine. For other sites, the full structure and content of the site would be overwhelming when the user just wants a quick view at some basic info. Some of the most successful handheld content I've seen appears to use browser sniffing and provides a completely customized user experience for handhelds that is different than the structure and experince of the web site. The trick to doing this well though is to not shortchange the handheld user. The good sites appear to have spent as much time and thought on their handheld site as they did on their desktop browser web site. Done poorly, this approach is also the worst where I know the information is on their site but they sniffed the handheld browser and display such a minimal amount of information that it's become useless. But that's just my take as a handheld user. I haven't ventured to do the development yet either. Just been giving it some thought. -Kevin On 4/20/05, Dawson, Michael <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > John, this is a late reply, but I've been reading through these again... > > How, do you supposed, you provide the content for each audience? I > assume you mean sniffing the browser? > > I could check the cgi.http_accept variable for: > x-wap.wml, vnd.wap.wml, x-hdml, and other similar values. > > Would that be enough to sniff the difference between mobile and desktop? > > I'm not sure which way I will go with this. I'm still evaluating > everyone else's suggestions as well. > > Thanks > > M!ke > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Dowdell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 3:54 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Handheld Layout Development (was RE: CSS) > > Dawson, Michael wrote: > > [When developing WWW pages and also delivering to mobile > > audiences, do you prefer one doc or two?] > > Some people believe there's "content" which can be poured into lots of > different containers. > > Oftentimes people enamored of "web standards" do not like it when > multiple documents are used instead of CSS. Another scenario is when > activists disparage separate pages optimized for text-to-speech > converters. > > Me, I'd be tempted to make sure each audience has the best experience > possible, and would optimize the content for the way each audience would > use it, even if that means separate files. > > jd > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Now there’s a better way to fax. eFax makes it possible to use your existing email account to send and receive faxes. Try eFax free. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=63 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:154787 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
