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Developing mobile resources

Since many consumers access the internet from cell phones and other mobile devices, web developers and designers must develop the necessary skills to accommodate this growing audience. Mobile websites are generally scaled-down versions of an existing dynamic website. Large graphics, flash elements and banner ads are stripped from mobile websites to display only the most important information from the main website. According to 'Mobile Web Design Trends for 2009' by Steven Snell, 'because of the lack of space on the screen, it's important for visitors to have access to what is most crucial and as little else as possible'.

Step 1: Navigate to your current website on the internet. Note all the graphics, pages, links and multimedia files on the site, as well as the download speed.

Step 2: Click through the site and prioritise the content by writing down all the information that is absolutely important for visitors to view.

Step 3: You can use a mobile simulator to view a mobile optimised version of the current website to get an idea of what to eliminate. Type in the complete website address and click the 'Search' button to convert the current site.

Step 4: At the very bottom footer of the screen, click 'Show Images' or 'Hide Images' to view both options for the site.

Step 5: Create a new website in any website editor at 240 x 320 pixels. Use the mobile optimised view of the current site as a template to create headers and text for the mobile version.

Step 6: Use graphics sparingly or not at all. Make sure that the background and text colours contrast well enough for easy viewing on a small mobile screen.

Step 7: Save the mobile website and use an FTP account to upload and publish the site to a server. Use a sub domain name from the current web hosting account to link to the page on the internet.