With the popularity of mobile devices steadily increasing, many developers are now charged with the challenge of creating web pages that can be viewed on them. Obviously, designing mobile phone web pages that are easy to read is very important because of the small screen size. Since many limitations with regards to location have almost been eliminated through the use of high speed CPU and memory chips and radio technology, the ability to access data online has become easier from a mobile phone.
Anyone who has access to the Internet from a personal computer in their home, now has the same capability from their portable phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) during the journey from home to work and back. Designers should be aware that content created for the big screen may not necessarily read well on a small screen.
Web pages being designed today are generally created and tested on computers that use larger monitors. Although the modern mobile device has advanced technologically, its display screen is still relatively small thus limiting the amount of information they can display on one page. Designers now need to carefully consider how they are going to display information that will be displayed on a small screen.
Factors that should be considered include: how much color information to use (16 bit or 32 bit), the slower input of text, the absence of a mouse thus slowing a users interaction, scrolling is only possible vertically, commands executed by soft keys, slower data transfer, limited storage for data and the cost of transferring data.
Mobile device users, in general, would rather use a short URL in order to cut down on typing. Text links, however, should be long, making them easier to see and to tap on. Navigation icons should not be placed at the top of the screen, place them further down. Do not use too many text styles and sizes on one page and don't use the special formats like italics or underlining too often.
Make use of small images on the page. The phone is able to zoom in on images but keeping them small saves on the time taken to download them. Displaying large images can draw attention away from the message that is being delivered. Large images should not be placed at the top of a page as it is tedious to wait while they download before any data that is informative can arrive.
The design characteristics of mobile phone web pages have been examined by this article. The following is a summary of the findings. Readability is a primary objective for a small screen. Choose colors, fonts and alignment very carefully. The order of the document should be well thought out, and last but not least, use images that are suitable for displaying on small screens.
More Information:
Mobile web design is becoming increasingly significant for businesses. A growing number of prospects and clients will be accessing your services and products through a
mobile phone website instead of the traditional Internet.
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