The Importance of Mobile Accessibility
August 22, 2008
In a day when web access is important no matter where you are, the ability of your customers to access your site at their convenience is vital. Making your site as user friendly as possible on a computer is one thing; making sure that your site is available from a mobile platform is another.
With the advent of mobile platforms such as the iPhone, mobile Internet is used increasingly more. Mobile Internet is the next battleground for social media and networking and should be seriously considered by advertisers. All too often, the mobile accessible version of a site is not considered and does not provide the user with the accessibility that they desire. Ensuring that your site is accessible on a mobile network does require a little extra work. If you do this work now, on the front end, however, you have a better start on this growing trend.
While it is important to make sure that your site is accessible on mobile devices, some sites need not worry about full functionality, not yet at least. Ensuring that your site is accessible to a mobile platform is especially important for sites that have a social aspect, whether it is a blog or something else of a social nature. Consider sites like Facebook and Twitter, both have mobile versions that provide access to their services. Their services may be more limited on a mobile platform, but they still provide access to their essential items, allowing their visitors to access their content whenever they desire.
Some may argue that it is only so long before mobile technology catches up and allows users to access full versions of their sites from their mobile device. While this argument does make a valid point: it won’t be terribly long before this happens, it is wrong to assume that everyone will get tot that point at the same time. Ensuring that your key content is accessible now will ensure that you get the traffic you want in the future. Also, you have to consider that most people move slightly slower than technology. People who are accessing the mobile version of your site today might still be looking to access the same thing even when they have access to the whole site.
Written By: James Blackburn, Website Office Staff Writer
Comments
Got something to say?