Designing an attractive, engaging website used to be easy. Even just a few years ago, you could feel confident that the product you saw on your screen would look nearly identical on anyone else’s screen. Sure, there might be some slight variation in resolution or screen size, but the majority of people were still interacting with the web from the comfort of a desktop or laptop computer. But that has completely changed.
A Pew Research Center poll suggests that nearly 65 percent of American adults own a smartphone, and that nearly half own some kind of tablet device. This suggests a major shift in the way consumers are interacting with the web. As a designer or developer that means you have to find ways to build websites that are easily viewed on a variety of devices. It can be a tricky process, but luckily a variety of tools and services exist to ensure your website looks great on a tiny mobile screen or a 60-inch HD monitor.
mobiReady
When tablets started to gain popularity, most major websites relied on a slightly modified, zoomed-in version of their desktop site. However, it became quickly apparent that this wasn’t the best way forward since these point-and-click, text-heavy sites didn’t always translate well to the tablet environment.
Today, websites are tailor-made for viewing on high-end tablet devices. They take full advantage of an iPad Air 2’s 9.7-inch retina display, for example, to provide a seamless, visual experience. One service that can help you as a developer make the leap from desktops to tablets is mobiReady. By simply entering your website address, it provides you with a free analysis of your site’s mobile design. You can even compare your site with that of your competitors. When you’re ready to make some improvements, mobiReady puts a wealth of tools at your disposal to improve your score and gain that ever-important edge.
‘corePHP’
If you have an existing website, trying to translate your desktop page to a mobile platform can sometimes feel like fitting a round peg in a square hole. If you compare the desktop and mobile sites for some major websites, such as BBC.com or ESPN.com, you get a sense that the best approach may be to start from scratch. With the exception of the logo, each version of these sites is entirely different from the other with the mobile page featuring larger, tap-friendly buttons and a user-interface that mirrors the look of iOS.
‘corePHP’ responsive development services, can help you adjust your website design into a mobile site or application. It translates the important information on your site to suit a smaller screen and make it responsive, so it works for different-sized screens. This tool works for all skill levels and needs because, as its website says, its developers can give a little push or do a lot of hand holding.
Adobe Edge Reflow
Edge Reflow is a professional-quality website development tool that lets you create sites specifically for a mobile environment. Edge’s best feature is its grid-based alignment tool, which allows you to make subtle adjustments to your site to achieve maximum viewer-friendliness. It’s perfect for designing side-bar menus or text boxes that are legible even on a tiny mobile screen. And you don’t have to be a technical genius to use Edge; you just need an eye for design.
