It seems that really big news portals too are taking up responsive design – the BBC has just announced how it is going to incorporate it into its mobile sites.
I had in a previous post said why news sites should consider responsive design as having solutions to the design problems caused by the diversity of devices, platforms and screen sizes. This is how Smashing Magazine had in an article described responsive design: "Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. The practice consists of a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries. As the user switches from their laptop to iPad, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. In other words, the website should have the technology to automatically respond to the user’s preferences. This would eliminate the need for a different design and development phase for each new gadget on the market."
I had also in another post described how sites like the Boston Globe seem to have embraced responsive design.
Well the BBC has long-term term plans to incorporate responsive design into its mobile sites and later extend it to its main sites as well.
Image credit: BBC
“The BBC certainly isn’t the first to use responsive design, but we do believe we’re the first big news site to start to use it for such a large audience, certainly in the UK,” said a recent post on the BBC Internet blog. "Our plan is to gradually "optimise" and deliver essential features roughly in order of device size and complexity, starting with the smallest and simplest." The mobile website and apps account for 26 per cent of BBC’s traffic and at some point the figures will account for more visitors than the regular website. So, the future lies in the responsive way, the post says.
