1. Mobile And Tablet Website
Design
Customize Your Website for Mobile Use
Prepared for 1-800 Charity Cars
Presented by: Veronica Guerrero
Fundamentals of Web Design
August 25, 2012
2. Mobile and Tablet usage
69% use mobile internet daily
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Thank you for viewing my presentation on Mobile and Tablet Design.
Did you know that 69% of the population access the internet via their mobile devices? Thanks to smartphones and internet-enabled tablets, everyone can now access their email accounts, update their Facebook and Twitter accounts from the palm of their hand.
SMS alerts are also helpful with this because not only can one access these means of communication through the browser on their smartphone or tablet, but one can send and receive a SMS message (AKA text message) to access email and status updates as well. This is also a good way to keep up with the latest news headlines.
The tablet industry has grown since 2009. By 2015, it is estimated that the tablet market will grow to 320 million units sold, which means that the way most people access the internet will be via mobile devices and tablets. According to a recent poll, 50% of Americans said that tablets will eventually lead to laptops becoming obsolete in the near future. This will also lead the way for paper media to be phased out eventually as well.
There are several tools available that can help you make your website accessible on all devices, whether mobile or not. Mobify is very user friendly and is specialized for e-stores on the mobile web. It has both a free version and a paid version. The free version does offer the option of customizing your domain.
Winksite specializes in creating a community around your mobile site. There is the option of creating your own QR code which aids for easy access to different features on your mobile site (a QR code scanner is required to use QR codes, available in the App Store or Android market).
If your original website is hosted on WordPress, there are several plugins available to help make your site user friendly. MobilePress is one of those plugins that aid in mobile accessibility.
There are several businesses that have not only made sure that prospective clients can view their website via a mobile device, but has also created apps for ease of use on smartphones, such as iPhones and Android devices. For instance, while The SuperDentists, a pediatric/orthodontic specialist office, have not launched a mobile website, they have launched an app for iOS and Android devices. This is helpful because the app has all of the pertinent contact information on it, including ways to get in contact with the office right from your phone. This is helpful for those who are exclusively on a mobile device to access the internet. Another business that is ahead of the game with mobile internet is Sephora, a high-end beauty supply store. When you type in Sephora’s URL into the browser on your mobile device, you are automatically redirected to their mobil site, m.sephora.com. This is really a good thing because the full site has a lot of animated features. Sephora also has an app available for iOS devices which allows you to make purchases. GameStop, a video game and electronics retailer, also has a mobile-device-friendly website. The aforementioned websites, aside from the website for The SuperDentists, both have links that can redirect the user to their full website, if desired by the consumer.
Child Development Associates is a nonprofit organization that offers subsidized or low-cost childcares services to low-income parents. CDA does not have a mobile-friendly website. They would greatly benefit from one because if a parent is in need of receiving childcare while they go to work or school and they do not have access to a computer, it is not as easy to fill out forms on the full site from a smartphone. Plus, the text on the page is very hard to read and it would be next to impossible for anyone trying to apply for services to properly fill out the initial contact sheet. Altman Plants is a nursery located in San Diego County that specializes in supplying large stores, such as WalMart and Home Depot, plants to sell in their garden departments. If someone were to be in the process of opening a nursery, and wanted to check out the plants that Altman’s has to offer via their smartphone, it would be difficult because their website is not optimized for use on a mobile device. The Dance Spot is a dance studio located in Chula Vista’s affluent Eastlake District that offers dance lessons to people of any level in dance. Their website is also hard to see on a smartphone, meaning that one has to zoom in to read the information posted on their website. The Dance Spot would also benefit from a mobile site because if one is looking for a dance studio to enroll themselves or their child, and the phone number is hard to see, that will keep people from making that initial contact with the company.
In conclusion, a mobile website is a very good thing to have access to, both for a thriving business and for a consumer. It can mean the difference between success and failure.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my presentation! Please do not hesitate to ask any questions that you may have. I hope it was informative.
