Optimizing your site for IPad`

[InsightsDigital]

Since the IPad will only operate using Safari and wont support Flash, do you think you will optimize your site to become iPad friendly?

[jay 11]

i think it will depend mostly on how many units are bought and the content of the site. If ipads become wildly adopted and i can expect a lot of ipad users on my site, then yes, i would go through the trouble of optimizing. Otherwise, I think it is just one less thing to worry about.

[InsightsDigital]

But it seems that everyone is so enthusiastic about the iPad - I would not be surprised that with this fervert fever, the # of iPads will influence the optimization of visitors to those sites.

[jay 11]

Well so far i think they sold between 300k-700k units. A pretty solid opening weekend. Problem is... the iPad doesn't replace anything. Nor is it really better than anything already out there. Plus.. it's web browsing is done with a limited browser (safari). Bigger businesses already optimize for Safari (and many of the other popular browsers for that matter) but most businesses do not optimize their websites for Apples default browser. In fact.. a good portion of Apple users download a third party browser (mainly Firefox) because of Safari's limitations. I personally think the ipad will prove to be a dud... and we are more likely to see App Developers optimizing apps than site owners optimizing websites... BUT time will tell. :) I'll give Apple props for coolness but I think they came up way short in terms of usefulness.

[Doctor Inferno]

I think every site (without flash) which loads well on Firefox will load properly on the iPhone/iPad.

[infinique]

You shouldn't worry about that if you're on WP. Already there are ipad plugins for that.

[kflorida78]

Since the IPad will only operate using Safari and wont support Flash, do you think you will optimize your site to become iPad friendly?

If you build your site to w3c.org standards and don't go nuts with Flash, your site will already be optimized for the iPad.

Let's be honest, Flash is buggy and has no place in touch-based systems like tablets and iPad's. Flash isn't designed to interact with a touch screen, so even if Flash was available on the iPad and upcoming tablets, it wouldn't matter.

My suggestion:
1) Build your Web site to the latest Web standards. Safari iPad adheres to the latest CSS level 3 and HTML 5 standards.

2) Avoid Flash. Replace slideshows and animation effects with JavaScripts and a good plugin for js like jQuery. If you're still using Flash for menu systems, all I can say is "wow".

That's it, follow my two simple rules and your site will not only be "iPad Optimized", it will work cross-platform and cross-browser.

I would be more concerned about how Internet Explorer has failed to meet the latest Web standards with their ie8 release. Hopefully ie9 will be better.

[kflorida78]

One more thought...

If decide to use Flash anyway, make sure you use something like Google's swfobject and provide alternative content.

For example, use swfobject to call the flash slideshow, and your alternative content can be a jQuery powered javascript slideshow. (although, I almost like the jQuery stuff better than flash, but this suggestion is if you're hellbent on having flash content)

[kflorida78]

Well so far i think they sold between 300k-700k units. A pretty solid opening weekend. Problem is... the iPad doesn't replace anything. Nor is it really better than anything already out there. Plus.. it's web browsing is done with a limited browser (safari). Bigger businesses already optimize for Safari (and many of the other popular browsers for that matter) but most businesses do not optimize their websites for Apples default browser. In fact.. a good portion of Apple users download a third party browser (mainly Firefox) because of Safari's limitations. I personally think the ipad will prove to be a dud... and we are more likely to see App Developers optimizing apps than site owners optimizing websites... BUT time will tell. :) I'll give Apple props for coolness but I think they came up way short in terms of usefulness.

btw, your Claim about optimizing for Safari is inaccurate. Safari is actually one of the most advanced Web browsers. In fact, Safari and Google Chrome are the most standards-compliant browsers on the market followed closely by Firefox.

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to when you say "limited browser". Exactly how is Safari limited? The only browser I am aware of that is limited and requires its own stylesheet because it is so "limited" is Internet Explorer.

Perhaps you should learn a little about the topic before you post inaccurate information. I appreciate anyone's participation in helping others better their Web knowledge, just make sure that your data is accurate to the best of your knowledge. You obviously made that up off the top of your head since Safari is a very well-made browser. I personally prefer Firefox because of its openness, but Safari is a good standards-compliant browser.