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Web Content Managers Forum Conference Call

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Over 120 Forum members in attendance

Topic: Enabling Access to Web Content via Mobile Devices

A. Agenda

11:00 –11:05 News & Updates

11:05 – 11:30 dotMobi Advisory Group � trends in mobile usage

11:30 – 11:50 Current efforts throughout government: Martha Townes, VOA and John Murphy/Carter Raines, USA.gov

11:50 – 12:00 Wrap-up and final Q&A

B. News

  • Annual Government Web Conference May 5-6

C. Overview

Mobile Survey recap

We conducted this survey of Forum members in October 2007 – 40 agencies responded. Most people have not yet enabled their websites for mobile access. We need to clean up content and deliver it in small chunks that are easy to read on mobile devices. There is now a .mobi domain which you can use for your mobile content.

Background Reading:

D. Presentations from .mobi Advisory Group, VOA, and USA.gov

Guest Speakers from .mobi Advisory Group (MAG) industry trade group:

Michael O'Farrell, Chair – read his bio

  • MAG has 100 members and focuses on mobile web opportunities.
  • There are currently over 200 million mobile subscribers in the US marketplace.
  • Carriers have opened up web access via mobile devices. People can now use a range of search engines other than the default that comes with your device.
  • There's been a dramatic increase in mobile usage. Some of it is due to flat–rate mobile access, which is cheaper. Establishing the .mobi domain has also contributed.
  • Over 95% of mobile access is by "regular" phones with built–in browsers (vs. Blackberry-type devices).
  • There are lots of mobile applications that government can offer – mapping, blogging, and consumer services at all levels of government

Michael Becker, Steering Committee, Public Sector initiatives – read his bio

  • It's expected that there will be 3 ½ billion mobile subscribers worldwide by the end of this year. In many places, it's the only access people have.
  • Mobile phones can now receive ANY kind of online media (voice, text, data, video, etc.)
  • For example, someone can now call a toll–free number for help and the phone operator can text additional information (including web URLs) to them via their mobile device.
  • ESPN and Weather Channel both are excellent models for great mobile access.
  • Software as a service (SAAS) is becoming an option for many organizations who want to do more in the area of mobile content.

Paul Nerger, VP Advanced Services and Applications – read his bio

  • .mobi is the registry for .mobi domain. The folks who manage the domain are self-described "mobile web evangelists."
  • This year, mobile applications are exploding. There is a tremendous increase in content that's now coming online for mobile devices. There were just over 25,000 "mobile" sites at end of November 2007. But just 2 1/2 months later, nearly 150,000 mobile sites were online. This dramatic growth is expected to continue. Almost one million .mobi domain names are now licensed.
  • A "mobile" site means there are least four pages of mobile content underneath the main page. Mobile sites use a .shtml mobile profile, with no frames. There are no "portals."
  • People are trying to "fit" current sites into mobile environment. But this isn't working too well yet. We need to design differently.
  • Some things about mobile content delivery are superior to desktop computers. For example, if you provide a phone number, it should be a link so your customers can touch that link and call directly. Phones are often GPS–enabled, so they also provide the opportunity to provide localized content. Mobile devices are also "instant–on" – meaning that they can be turned on much quicker than a desktop computer, an advantage in emergencies or when people need very quick access to information and services.
  • We need to think about our content differently when delivering it on mobile devices. Dev.mobi is a free program that allows you to create mobile content in a test, development environment. Dev.mobi is helpful because it covers all carriers and doesn't focus on just one technology, brand, etc. It helps you design your content in a generic fashion so it should work on any device.
  • The .mobi group is also publishing a developer guide with the W3C and working on an Mcommerce guide, mobile advertising guide, "mobile internet for dummies" book, etc. The group also provides free online training and can help you apply for mobile certification (there's a small fee for testing).
  • Testing mobile sites can be difficult without access to all devices. But there's a ready.mobi website that can help you test your content, tell you what works, and how to fix what doesn't.
  • Another resource is Device Atlas, a comprehensive database of mobile device characteristics (camera, gps, java, etc.). You can do runtime API and sync mechanism to determine the type and capabilities of each device.

Martha Townes – Voice of America (VOA)

  • They've been mobile for two years. But like many agencies, they're still getting their feet wet and learning how to best deliver mobile content. They have a .mobi domain.
  • Their target audience is mostly overseas, where mobile access and usage is way ahead of the U.S.
  • Their greatest challenge is to create content that works on ALL devices – rather than repackaging content specifically for each mobile device.
  • They've learned a lot from listening to the .mobi speakers on the call today and will revisit how they're delivering mobile content to fit with the latest best practices.

John Murphy/Carter Raines – USA.gov

  • USA.gov research shows that mobile is here to stay. We need to be proactive and respond.
  • USA.gov has created a mobile site to easily search government content
  • In looking at government content, it's clear that not all content is mobile–worthy. Services offered via mobile must be quick and useful.
  • The USA.gov staff has talked to their peers in Canada, who've put many "quick & easy" services online for mobile delivery. They've started with that approach assuming that people won't do "deep" browsing on mobile devices, at least for now.
  • Blogs work particularly well on mobile devices.
  • Search seems to get the most use so far of anything else on mobile sites.
  • Mobile must be 508–compliant, just like all our other content.
  • If people search using a mobile device and the resulting page comes back and it's not mobile-enabled, the user will experience accessibility and readability problems. We need to do more to ensure that our most popular and critical content is easily read on mobile devices.

E. Discussion

Question: Apple just released a developer kit for iPhone, what's the impact?

Answer: iPhone is a great device, but there are many more devices out there with small screens, etc. This device has really opened people's eyes to all you can do on the web with your mobile device. But don't develop ONLY for iPhone. It's a great tool, but most people are still using other mobile devices. Keep in mind that the latest Apple kit is for developing Apple-specific applications, vs. "web apps."

Question: What process do you recommend for assessing which content or customer groups we should focus on for mobile devices?

Answer: Don't try to do everything and enable your entire website to be mobile–enabled. On the other hand, don't limit it to one thing. The bottom line is you need to ask your audience! Mobile surfers "cherry-pick" what they need. You must understand your audience and know what they'll be looking for.

Consider content that has broad audience appeal. Deliver the "basics" so content can be accessed on the widest range of devices. Do a phased approach. Think about which content is most helpful for people "on the go."

Question: Are there certain categories of information that research has shown to be most valuable to a mobile audience?

Answer: Entertainment data gets lots of use, but that's because it's the bulk of what's out there now. There is a market for other kinds of data (like bus schedules). Let visitors "graze." Help people get to your mobile content. Allow people to text a request to get information and then deliver the URL directly to them. Directories are also very useful. Simplicity equals success on mobile. Some organizations are using 2–D barcodes to communicate information from a camera, or send information to a mobile phone (an airline in Spain sends boarding passes to mobile users with this technology).

Question: There is a lot of "trust" in a .gov domain name. What are the implications for "trust" with .mobi domain names? Is there a possibility of reserving a .gov.mobi subdomain for government mobile content?

Answer: US domain names are different here than elsewhere in the world. ICANN initially was only for US domains, but the rest of the world is doing something different with general domain names (e.g., ".uk"). The MAG group will consider this question and look for ways to leverage ".gov" into the mobile environment.

E. Next Steps

  • Learn more:

Introducing the Technology & Innovation Task Group

Co–Chairs: Rezaur Rahman (ACHP) & Russell O'Neill (GSA)

  • Rezaur Rahman joined us to briefly talk about this new group, and to invite Forum members to join the group.
  • They will be setting up several sub-groups (such as Kay Morrison's "video" group, and likely a "mobile" group, too) to look at new technologies, and see how these new tools can help us more effectively deliver our content.
  • Visit the group page on webcontent.gov
  • Look for an email soon from Rezaur & Russell with an invitation to join the Technology & Innovation Task Group!

G. Wrap–up

Next call:

April 17, 2008 11 eastern, 8 pacific.

For future calls:

  • Let us know if you have a topic on which you'd like to speak. We have lots of smart folks in our community, doing lots of innovative things, so this is your chance to share what you are doing, get feedback from your peers, and help your colleagues across government to deliver better online service to the public.
  • If you don't want to speak, but have an idea for a topic that you want to learn more about, send your suggestions to Sheila and Rachel.

 

Page Updated or Reviewed: April 3, 2008

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