Web Design Changes Due to the iPad

The iPad has recently gained tremendous fame worldwide. A huge mass of people are getting attracted to this newly emerging device. We can already see people using an iPad whether they are in a bus or a coffee shop. Why it has become so popular in such a short time?

The answer is, it’s such a computer that you can simply hold in your hand and read like a book. It’s a more intimate way to interact as now you can lounge with the computer rather than having the difficulty to sit with it at a desk. This technology change has turned the world of website designers upside down. It has led the web designers rethinking about their design tactics and even the way they code. The designers have started designing specifically for the iPad because it seems undeniable that the device will hold strong position in the future. To give a more positive user experience web designs and layouts must be more compatible to the iPad.

iPad features: what Web Designers should consider?
Let’s consider what actually iPad comprises that’s forcing the designers to change the way they design.

iPad modes:

• Landscape

• Portrait

By mode it means the way you can view your website using the iPad. So either you can view it in landscape or portrait mode.


Primary iPad navigation tool:
The device is perfectly simple. It has no keyboard, no mouse. So how are the users going to interact? Yes, the primary tool here to interact with is your fingers. The users will use their fingers to navigate on the iPad.

The question here is: Why are these features bothering designers so much?

With iPad users do not need to follow the standardized and defined ways of viewing and interacting with websites. They can zoom in and out the website pages as it suits them and can view the websites in any of the above mentioned two modes. Here comes the fact, why the designers need to bother? In order to make your website accessible as well as usable on the iPad (having two different viewing modes) a designer needs to create two different layouts for the website. This requires a website to be developed in smart fluid width design.

iPad has killed Flash:
The iPad does not support flash. If you want your website to contain animations and videos it has to be designed in HTML5 because websites designed in this language are easily viewed in iPad. HTML5 has all the elements that were previously found only in Adobe Flash.

iPad has killed hover effects:

As users will use their fingers to navigate the website so the hover effects that are only suited to pointer based devices are useless for iPads. For a smooth user experience with iPads the hover effects must be removed. The links in a website can also no longer be concealed in text and need to be re sized.

Color contrast:

The iPad can be used in different locations. You can use it anywhere indoors or outdoors according to your choice. This brings some disadvantages like the ipad’s screen is glossy and it reflects light. This hinders user’s interaction with the content that is displayed on the website.

Thoughts?