Mobile usability

The rapid growth in use of mobile devices demands that libraries accommodate information presentation on smartphones and other small screens. Usability should be the focus for every stage of design, ideally following the conventions and best practices promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium and codified by major manufacturers such as Apple, Android and Blackberry. A mobile device is not simply a reduced‐size desktop; its minimal real estate requires different design choices and compromises that affect reading, navigation and entering text. Testing and evaluating the mobile interface design and function require attention to the hardware, operating system and browser. Ideally testing should be performed on multiple hardware configurations and by a wide variety of users. Emulators, simulators and lab testing can be useful but should not replace usability evaluation by real people in real life situations.