Re: [css-device-adapt] Avoid referring to Desktop

Here is my suggestion for a new introduction (stop referring to desktop):

CSS 2.1 [CSS21] specifies an initial containing block for continuous
media that has the dimensions of the viewport. Browsers on mobile
devices generally have a viewport that is a lot narrower than on
non-mobile devices due to their form factors. Considering the CSS
pixel size recommended by CSS 2.1 and the percentage of arm's length
where the devices are usually held (around 60-70%), the resulting
initial containing block width is narrower than for which most sites
were designed.

As a result, many mobile browser vendors use use a fixed initial
containing block size that is wider than the actual viewport as as a
result doesn’t adhere to the CSS 2.1 pixel size recommendation. In
addition to scrolling or panning, zooming is often used to change
between an overview of the document and zoom in on particular areas of
the document to read and interact with.

Certain DOCTYPEs (for instance XHTML Mobile Profile) are used to
recognize mobile documents which are assumed to be designed for
handheld devices, hence using the viewport size as the initial
containing block size.

Additionally, three different vendor HTML META tags have been
introduced over time, allowing an author to specify things such as the
size of the initial containing block and the initial zoom factor
directly. The most popular of these is the viewport META tag, which is
universally supported by all current mobile browsers. These
implementations, however, are not fully interoperable and this
specification is an attempt at standardizing the functionality
provided by the viewport META tag in CSS.

On Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 3:36 PM, Rick Byers <rbyers@chromium.org> wrote:
> Agreed.  The desktop/mobile dichotomy is artificial and temporary, and it's
> legacy is already starting to cause us pain.  I like the new wording -
> thanks Kenneth!
>
> Rick
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Kenneth Rohde Christiansen
> <kenneth.christiansen@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi there,
>>
>> I believe it is better to avoid referring to "desktop" in the CSS
>> Device Adaptation spec. I suggest the following change to
>> http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-device-adapt/#desktop-ua-styles-
>>
>> With the term desktop browser below, we mean a browser which has a
>> size of the initial viewport, in CSS pixels, that is at least as large
>> as the smallest viewport or viewing area you would expect a user of a
>> desktop computer to have. In that sense, it could include tablet PC
>> and TV browsers.
>>
>> 13.1. Desktop UA styles
>>
>> For a desktop browser, the recommendation is to have no UA styles.
>> That means that it will have all descriptors initially set to ‘auto’,
>> and behave as it would have without support for viewport descriptors
>> if there are no viewport descriptors in the user or author styles.
>>
>> -> change to:
>>
>> Traditional user agents, used mostly on desktop and laptop computers,
>> can easily be resized to fit most websites inside the initial viewport
>> without breaking layout or adding scrollbars. Using the below
>> recommendations, sites not adding any @viewport rules themselves will
>> continue to look and function like they have always.
>>
>> 13.1. Large screen UA styles
>>
>> For browsers with default viewport size large enough to fit common
>> websites without breaking the layout, or which can easily to resized
>> to do so, the recommendation is to have no UA styles. That means that
>> it will have all descriptors initially set to ‘auto’, and behave as it
>> would have without support for viewport descriptors if there are no
>> viewport descriptors in the user or author styles.
>>
>> For browsers which support changing orientation, and the portrait mode
>> breaks this the above, it is recommended to set a minimum layout
>> width, equal to that of the width in landscape mode.
>>
>> EXAMPLE:
>>
>> @viewport {
>>   min-width: 1024px;
>> }
>>
>> Cheers
>> Kenneth
>>
>> --
>> Kenneth Rohde Christiansen
>
>



-- 
Kenneth Rohde Christiansen
Web Platform Architect, Intel Corporation.
Phone  +45 4294 9458 ﹆﹆﹆

Received on Wednesday, 2 October 2013 14:51:18 UTC