URL specifications for mobile websites
12-01-2009 16:13:48 Minor, 1020concepts, Artikelen, Afstudeerstage
Mobile websites are getting more and more interesting. I'm trying to create a clear view for me and my clients on how to approach this upcoming market. So while surfing the web on my desktop and creating small mobile websites I was wondering what would be the best way to direct a user to your mobile website. A subdomain or a extra extension, like .mobi. Automatic redirection, a link to your mobile website. No redirections or anything at all, only different stylesheets depending on screen-size or user-agent.
There are a few options if you optimize your website for mobile devices when it comes to url specifications.
- a domain specific site. sitename.mobi This is a common solution if you are mainly focused on mobile users. But should you visit it on a desktop, should it be desktop optimized?
- a subdomain mobi.sitename.com, there a many variations on the subdomain, the most common is m. others i've seen are mmm. mobile. mob.
- a request url such as sitename.com/m/ and again with very different requests as m / mobile / mob etc.
- a plain domain sitename.com, most of the time you will find these load different stylesheets.
- all of the above, never missing anyone.
For all five, and there are probably more, there are pro's and con's. I was wondering if there is a w3c standard for domain specifications if you are creating a mobile version of your website. There is nothing i could find that is directed towards mobile specifications. Only the following 2 comments:
- [URIS] Keep the URIs of site entry points short.
"5.2.1.1 What it means: Typing URIs on mobile devices can be difficult, and it is expected that users will prefer to use alternative methods of obtaining URIs when available - such as following a hyperlink (from an e-mail, SMS or other Web page), WAP Push, 2D bar code, color bar code, RFID tag and Bluetooth. However, typing a URI may in some cases be the only option available. By keeping site entry point URIs short it is possible to reduce the chance of error and provide a more satisfactory user experience."
[URIS - http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/#URIS] - a quote saying that domain URI's shouldn't have aliases if they are presenting the same resources.
"A URI owner SHOULD NOT associate arbitrarily different URIs with the same resource." -from Architecture of the Word Wide Web, Volume One [ WEBARCH - http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-webarch-20041215/#uri-aliases]
To be continued
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