With the rise in the availability of high-speed cellular data such as EVDO and UMTS, and with the increase in sales of data services, enterprise Web sites should consider optimizing their content for mobile users. This article describes some of the common techniques to optimize servers and content for users of Windows Mobile and other small screen devices.
Optimizing the server
Whether you are using Windows and Internet Information Server (IIS) or Linux and Apache to present Web pages, you can make some changes that will help improve the performance for mobile users. One of the standard features that the Windows Mobile Web browsers support is the ability to receive compressed content via HTML from a Web server. This compression must be enabled on the server in order to take advantage of the reduced bandwidth to send data to clients. This technique works well for both mobile and desktop users while allowing the enterprise to maximize its communications link to the Internet. The cost for the company is that the Web server does use more CPU since it performs real-time compression of the pages before they are sent to the client. However, in my experience this has not caused a problem with performance.
For instructions on how to configure IIS to support http compression, please see dotnetjunkies.com/Article/16267D49-4C6E-4063-AB12-853761D31E66.dcik
For instructions on how to configure Apache 2.0 to support http compression, please see httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_deflate.html
Optimizing the Web site
It is my recommendation that you create a separate Web site for mobile users. By creating a separate site, users will easily be able to navigate to the site that is set up and optimized specifically for them. This can be done by creating a second host name such as “mobile.host.com” or by creating a directory from the root of the Web server such as “host.com/mobile.” The Internet now offers a special domain name that has been designated for mobile users called .MOBI. However, this is not widely known by users at this time.
You may consider using Javascript to identify the header information for Windows Mobile devices so you can redirect clients to the appropriate Web site. However, not all users will want this feature, especially if your mobile content is limited.
Optimizing the content
Once you have a specific place to put content for mobile users, you should consider the design limitations of the mobile clients. One of the major changes compared to your desktop is the screen resolution. The common resolution for Windows Mobile devices—both touch and non-touch screen smartphones—is 320 x 240. Even though there are devices that support larger VGA displays, they are not common. Due to this, HTML content needs to be smaller to prevent horizontal scrolling. I suggest that you use a width of 220 pixels for designing your Web site. Also, due to the narrow width, you may find that the vertical design of Web pages with navigation at the side may not be practical. Additionally, the use of graphics should take into account the screen size as well so that the graphics are sized properly to fit the screen.
When creating content for a mobile Web site, keep in mind that there are limitations of the client. Examples include limited versions of Javascript as well as no native support for Java, Flash, or other ActiveX controls which users can download on their PC. In addition, I do not recommend designing mobile Web sites with frames because of the limited screen size versus the size of the scroll bars. However, I would recommend that designers consider using CSS to make the management of colors easier on the website. When selecting the colors of the site, please keep in mind that the site will be viewed in dim and bright lighting.
Printer-friendly version
