The 8 Principles of Mobile Friendliness

In 2017, the MobileGov Community of Practice tested the top federal websites most visited on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). The results of the automated tests showed us that a few common practices greatly affect the usability of a site on a mobile device.

Building on last year's results, we are back at it again—but this time we examined the automated testing tools themselves. During this review, we found there are 8 Principles of Mobile Friendliness. And if you follow them, they will make your site more usable and user friendly.

The eight principles are:

1. JavaScript is really cool, when used with care

2. The viewport is the window to your site.

3. We navigate mobile sites using our finger, which is bigger than a mouse pointer

4. Installing additional software to properly view your site should not be necessary

5. Conserve resources, recycle when possible

6. The smaller the better, when it comes to page resources!

7. Properly configure the server and plan for growth

8. Don't forget accessibility!

These principles were distilled from the:

• Google Mobile Friendly Test Tool,

• DigitalDashboard.gov, and the

• Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) Benchmarking Government Websites Report

   

Additional Resources:

• Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?

• Connected Government Act

• A Guide to Creating Mobile-Friendly Web Sites

• Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services

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