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Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 vs Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web

Abstract

If you are you interesting in Mobile Web, probably you know that there are many documents with recomendations for mobile webs developers. One of the best known is the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 published by the W3C (and Recommendation since 29 July 2008).

In response to the early drafts of MWBP, Luca Passani published Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web.

In this document, you can compare summaries of both mobile web practices. Please, read both full Mobile Web Practices (Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 and Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web) for more and complete information.

Notes

Disclaimer and copyright

The tables contains quotes - the q XHTML element - of MWBP 1.0 and GAP Mobile Web Practices. These documents are copyrighted. Below you can see the owners of the sources documents and the W3C's license:

Mobile Web Practices (MWBP 1.0 vs GAP): Table of contents

MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Assumption on devices

Mobile Web Practices: Assumption on devices
Features W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
Term Default Delivery Context Baseline
Screen 120 pixels, minimum 120x120 pixel screen or larger
Markup XHTML Basic 1.1 delivered with content type application/xhtml+xml.

Support for XHTML Mobile Profile 1.0

Use the application/vnd.wap.xhtml+xml MIME Type 1

Charset UTF-8
Images JPEG. GIF 89a. Support for GIF and JPEG image formats
Maximum size content 20 kilobytes Device can manage at least 10 Kb of combined mark-up, graphics and CSS content
Colors 256 Colors, minimum. Color device with support for a minimum of 256 colors
Style CSS Level 1. In addition, CSS Level 2 @media rule together with the handheld and all media types
HTTP HTTP/1.0 or more recent
Script No support for client side scripting
Tables Two columns tables are supported. no 'rowspan' and 'colspan' support required
Picture and Link on the same Line Device can display a picture and a link on the same line
Minimal Bandwidth Device and network support at least 9.6 Kbps bandwith

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: The mobile device

Mobile Web Practices: The mobile device
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-MINIMIZE_KEYSTROKES] Keep the number of keystrokes to a minimum [GAP-MINIMIZE] Minimize the number of clicks required to carry out activities
[GAP-NO_WEB] Do not try to port all functions of a website to mobile
[MWBP-SUITABLE] Ensure that content is suitable for use in a mobile context
[GAP-DIFFERENT_MEDIA] Do not serve a website to a mobile device and do not serve a mobile site to a web browser
[GAP-STILL_A_PHONE] Enable one-click calls for phone numers

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: User experience

Mobile Web Practices: User experience
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-URIS] Keep the URIs of site entry points short [GAP-USE_SHORT_URL] Adopt a short URL for site entry point(s)
[MWBP-CAPABILITIES] Exploit device capabilities to provide an enhanced user experience
[GAP-TESTING] Find real, non-techie users and make them perform functions. Observe what problems they have
[MWBP-TESTING] Carry out testing on actual devices as well as emulators [GAP-MULTITEST] Test an application on at least 5 different microbrowsers
[MWBP-POP_UPS] Do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user
[MWBP-AUTO_REFRESH] Do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages, unless you have informed the user and provided a means of stopping it
[MWBP-LIMITED] Limit content to what the user has requested
[MWBP-PAGE_SIZE_USABLE] Divide pages into usable but limited size portions
[MWBP-ERROR_MESSAGES] Provide informative error messages and a means of navigating away from an error message back to useful information
[MWBP-SCROLLING] Limit scrolling to one direction, unless secondary scrolling cannot be avoided

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Content

Mobile Web Practices: Content
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-PAGE_TITLE] Provide a short but descriptive page title [GAP-ADD_TITLE] Provide a short but descriptive page title
[GAP-NO_SPLASH_SCREEN] Avoid first pages made to be skipped
[MWBP-THEMATIC_CONSISTENCY] Ensure that content provided by accessing a URI yields a thematically coherent experience when accessed from different devices
[MWBP-CLARITY] Use clear and simple language [GAP-CONCISE] Use clear, short and concise terms and sentences
[MWBP-CENTRAL_MEANING] Ensure that material that is central to the meaning of the page precedes material that is not

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Mobile Web Practices: Links and navigation
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-NAVBAR] Provide only minimal navigation at the top of the page [GAP-SPECIFIC] Place the most specific menu items in the top positions of menus
[GAP-NO_TOP_BAR] Avoid navigation bars at the top of the page
[MWBP-BALANCE] Take into account the trade-off between having too many links on a page and asking the user to follow too many links to reach what they are looking for
[GAP-MAX_10_LINKS] Only exceed 10 links per page if the application demands it
[MWBP-NAVIGATION] Provide consistent navigation mechanisms [GAP-NAVIGATION] Provide consistently used links to navigate inside the application
[MWBP-ACCESS_KEYS] Assign access keys to links in navigational menus and frequently accessed functionality [GAP-ACCESS_KEYS] Use the 'accesskey' attribute to implementkeyboard accelerators on menus
[GAP-NO_REDUNDANCY] Avoid repeating links such as 'Help','About','FAQ' in every page
[MWBP-LINK_TARGET_ID] Clearly identify the target of each link
[MWBP-LINK_TARGET_FORMAT] Note the target file's format unless you know the device supports it
[MWBP-TAB_ORDER] Create a logical order through links, form controls and objects

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Tables

Mobile Web Practices: Tables
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-TABLES_SUPPORT] Do not use tables unless the device is known to support them
[MWBP-TABLES_NESTED] Do not use nested tables
[MWBP-TABLES_LAYOUT] Do not use tables for layout
[MWBP-TABLES_ALTERNATIVES] Where possible, use an alternative to tabular presentation

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Forms

Mobile Web Practices: Forms
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[GAP-INPUT_MASK] Use input masks to minimize user input
[GAP-BEWARE_OF_FORMS] Beware of HTML-style forms
[MWBP-AVOID_FREE_TEXT] Avoid free text entry where possible
[MWBP-PROVIDE_DEFAULTS] Provide pre-selected default values where possible
[MWBP-DEFAULT_INPUT_MODE] Specify a default text entry mode, language and/or input format, if the target device is known to support it
[MWBP-CONTROL_LABELLING] Label all form controls appropriately and explicitly associate labels with form controls
[MWBP-CONTROL_POSITION] Position labels so they lay out properly in relation to the form controls they refer to
[GAP-AVOID_LOGINS] Do not require that users login each time
[GAP-NO_PASSWORD_MASK] Do not mask user input when entering a password

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Images and other external resources

Mobile Web Practices: Images and other external resources
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-EXTERNAL_RESOURCES] Keep the number of externally linked resources to a minimum
[GAP-FEW_IMAGES] Keep the number of images in a page down
[MWBP-OBJECTS_OR_SCRIPT] Do not rely on embedded objects or script
[MWBP-IMAGES_SPECIFY_SIZE] Specify the size of images in markup, if they have an intrinsic size [GAP-STATE_IMAGE_SIZE] Specify the real image width and image height in the mark-up
[MWBP-IMAGES_RESIZING] Resize images at the server, if they have an intrinsic size
[MWBP-LARGE_GRAPHICS] Do not use images that cannot be rendered by the device. Avoid large or high resolution images except where critical information would otherwise be lost [GAP-SMALL_PICTURES] Do not deliver pictures that are wider than the screen
[MWBP-GRAPHICS_FOR_SPACING] Do not use graphics for spacing
[MWBP-IMAGE_MAPS] Do not use image maps unless you know the device supports them effectively
[MWBP-NON-TEXT_ALTERNATIVES] Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element
[MWBP-COOKIES] Do not rely on cookies being available [GAP-BEWARE_OF_COOKIES] Carefully evaluate how cookies are used in the application. Cookies may or may not work on some networks and/or some devices

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Style

Mobile Web Practices: Style
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-STYLE_SHEETS_SUPPORT] Organize documents so that if necessary they may be read without style sheets
[MWBP-FONTS] Do not rely on support of font related styling
[MWBP-STYLE_SHEETS_SIZE] Keep style sheets small
[MWBP-STYLE_SHEETS_USE] Use style sheets to control layout and presentation, unless the device is known not to support them
[GAP-SIMPLE_CSS] Only use simple in-line CSS or none
[MWBP-USE_OF_COLOR] Ensure that information conveyed with color is also available without color
[MWBP-COLOR_CONTRAST] Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast
[MWBP-BACKGROUND_IMAGE_READABILITY] When using background images make sure that content remains readable on the device [GAP-AVOID_BACKGROUNDS] Avoid background pictures
[GAP-BEWARE_OF_COLORED_LINKS] Do not try to color links
[GAP-NO_VERTICAL_SPACE] Avoid Vertical Whitespace
[MWBP-MEASURES] Do not use pixel measures and do not use absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Markup

Mobile Web Practices: Markup
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MWBP-VALID_MARKUP] Create documents that validate to published formal grammars
[MBWP-DEFAULT_DELIVERY_CONTEXT] XHTML Basic 1.1 [2] [GAP-VALID_XHTMLMP] Make sure that mobile pages are valid XHTML Mobile Profile 1.0
[MWBP-MINIMIZE] Use terse, efficient markup
[MWBP-STRUCTURE] Use features of the markup language to indicate logical document structure
[MWBP-PAGE_SIZE_LIMIT] Ensure that the overall size of page is appropriate to the memory limitations of the device [GAP-NO_BIG_PAGE] Delivered mark-up and images should not exceed 10 Kilobyte totally
[MWBP-NO_FRAMES] Do not use frames

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Server, encoding

Mobile Web Practices: Server, encoding
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[MBWP-DEFAULT_DELIVERY_CONTEXT] UTF-8 [2] [GAP-ENCODING] Use UTF-8 encoding or better for non-english content
[MWBP-CHARACTER_ENCODING_SUPPORT] Ensure that content is encoded using a character encoding that is known to be supported by the target device
[MWBP-CHARACTER_ENCODING_USE] Indicate in the response the character encoding being used
[MWBP-REDIRECTION] Do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects by means of HTTP 3xx codes
[MBWP-DEFAULT_DELIVERY_CONTEXT] Content type application/xhtml+xml [2] [GAP-MIME_TYPE] Use the application/vnd.wap.xhtml+xml MIME Type
[MWBP-CONTENT_FORMAT_SUPPORT] Send content in a format that is known to be supported by the device
[MWBP-CONTENT_FORMAT_PREFERRED] Where possible, send content in a preferred format
[MWBP-CACHING] Provide caching information in HTTP responses [GAP-EXPLOIT_CACHE] Do not disable caching (unless low page lifetime is part of actual business model)

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MWBP 1.0 vs GAP: Other recomendations

Mobile Web Practices: Other recomendations
W3C's MWBP Passani's GAP
[GAP-FIND_BASELINE] Try to identify own project's device baseline
[GAP-UPGRADE_EXPERIENCE] Review practices and fine-tune content accordingly
[MWBP-DEFICIENCIES] Take reasonable steps to work around deficient implementations
[GAP-NO_MWI_BP] Beware of W3C MWI Best Practices

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Footnotes

1 This is not a Baseline, but apears in the Server, encoding section.

2 This is not a Best Practice statements, but appears in the Default Delivery Context section of the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0.

Metadata

Title
Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 vs Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web
Abstract
This document compare the recomendations for mobile webs developers "Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0" and "Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web"
Subject
Mobile Web Practices, Mobile Web, Mobile Web Best Practices, MBWP, W3C, MWI, Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web, GAP, Luca Passani
Created
2008-08-04
Last Modified
2009-07-23
Avaliable
2008-08-05
References
Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web
Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0
Contributor
Missha