The focus is shifting, Mobile Web on Radar
Do you click snaps using a high-tech digital Camera?
Do you need a computer to check emails?
Your answer to all these questions is "hmm, not really", right?
Because for doing all these simple but essential tasks you most probably use a single slick device, your cell phone! Don't you?
When the computer revolution began, Computers had been a monopoly of technocrats and businesses. And With advent of IBM personal computer (popularly known as PC), computing technology suddenly entered your drawing room. It essentially spurred a huge demand for word-processing applications, limited mathematical computational abilities and desktop games. As industry was catching up with the newer needs there came internet and World Wide Web. Personal computers those stood alone until then started talking to each other and PC transformed into an excellent communication device. Browsers, email applications gained popularity and in the twinkling of an eye web and internet emerged as one of the most powerful flattener of the world.
Digitization possibilities of practically anything compounded by resilient wireless infrastructure and swift rise in computing capabilities of cell phones and electronic devices made it possible to access digital information anywhere, anytime and forever. Devices grew smarter and took up functions of each other's. Today radio can be heard using internet, fax can be sent and received using computer, mobiles can be used to browse web. This creative and simultaneously disruptive phenomenon is known as digital convergence. It has essentially commoditized the web and digital information thereof.
Smart mobile devices hold a central position in this interesting revolution. As far as a non-techy individual is consider, her needs and usage of telecommunication and digital technology is limited to
· Searching information, googling
· Clicking snaps
· Sending and receiving e-mails
· Social networking (Facebook, twitter etc.)
· Making and receiving voice calls
· Texting
· Playing games
· Listening to a radio
· Listening to music
If you look at any average range mobile phone that is available in market today has all required features and at much cheaper price than price of a desktop or a laptop. Furthermore it has certain additional advantages to offer.
· Unlike a computer, a mobile is always with you as an integrated part of you and your lifestyle
· Unlike a desktop or a laptop, cell phone is always on
· Mobile interface is quite intuitive to learn and levels of literacy do not impact much as far as simple tasks are concerned
· Mobile devices are inherently multimodal
· Thousands of mobile apps are available to enrich the capabilities of your phone
And all this compels us to shift our focus to mobile web and accessibility of websites using mobile devices.
In my next post I will talk about certain constraints posed by mobile devices while interacting with web.
Shrirang P. Sahasrabudhe
Accessibility Expert
FutureWebResearchLab- Infosys Labs
