Over 3 million iPads have been sold since its debut in April 2010 and 14% of U.S. online customers plan to buy a tablet computer within the next 12 months according to a new study from leading market research company Forrester Research. This means that touch screen devices such as Apple's iPad will play a major role in how people will access and interact with web sites...
It is important to understand that touch screen devices are not navigated using a mouse. The touch screen interface is controlled with human fingers which are a lot larger than a typical mouse pointer, plus they may obscure the visibility of the elements. What this means is that navigational elements now have to accommodate to the size of a fingertip and hover effects generally do not exist...
The iPad has no Flash support whatsoever and probably will not have any in the foreseeable future. So, what does that mean for your web site? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out - any Flash content will simply be invisible to the iPad user. The solution? For the majority of websites JavaScript, CSS3 and HTML 5 can take care of most of the functionality you are looking for...
Computer monitors have always had a landscape orientation. This has only become more prominent in recent years as we moved from ubiquitous 4:3 ratios to various widescreen formats. But the iPad can change page orientation - Portrait or Landscape. This means web sites now need to incorporate this new page orientation variable introduced by touch screen devices...
The iPad and other touch screen devices to follow will be a game changer for web site design & development. They will change way we interact with web pages. Thus clients will have to evaluate interaction design, navigational components, modal windows, page orientation and layout structure, standards-based coding compliance and using alternatives to Flash for existing and future web sites...
The profound changes introduced by these touch screen devices can be quite complex as well as challenging. To help you with all your choices and options for your existing web site or any web site that is in the works please don't hesitate to contact me in regards to a consultation or web site review...
