It seems that every site that ever there was has decided to create a "mobile" version of their site so that when I visit with my iPhone, I get the mobile version, not the "real" version. While I appreciate that developers are trying to improve my experience of their site, there are a couple of fundamental design decisions that are completely at odds with that goal.
Firstly, do not lock mobile visitors into the mobile site. Makers of mobile browsers have gone to great lengths to provide features to acommodate normal web sites on small screens. Most users of mobile devices are quite capable of using those features (tap-zooming and panning being the most obvious) to browse "normal" web sites. If there is a need for a small, light-weight version of the site for mobile users, by all means make it availble but *please* provide a "Full web site here" button. There should also be a button from the main site to the light-weight site, as many "desktop" visitors may prefer to use the slimed-down interface and simpler functionality (i.e. they'd like to escape the often overloaded and crowded interface of most web sites when they have a specific function to perform). I believe that sites shouldn't require two different interfaces, but I'm very much into efficient functionality and don't care much for the overloaded graphics and effects of many current sites. Secondly, do not, under *any* circumstatnces, disable zooming. Sites that lock the scale at 1:1 are absolutely detestable. You are saying to your visitors "if you can't read this font at this size, FOAD". Most mobile sites use the smallest font they think they can get away with, so when I'm on a crowded, bumpy train in bad light trying to read a web site and I can't zoom in to get bigger text, I just leave. And I don't go back unless I really, really must. Lastly, do not prevent landscape mode. That is the last resort for attempting to get the font a little bigger and only emphasises an ignorance of the needs of mobile users. There is absolutely no practical reason to do any of the above. Designers must realise that users will make up their own minds about how to use a site, and that they may use it in ways that the designer doesn't expect. But when pages are downloaded to a users' browser, they become the users' property and they should be able to actually *use* the site in the way that suits them best. -- Rob -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iPhoneWebDev" group. To post to this group, send email to iphonewebdev@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to iphonewebdev+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/iphonewebdev?hl=en.
