Mobile First

We will be building ND.edu in what is known as “mobile first.” That means that the initial styles and layout are going to be formatted for small screens first; then we’ll be adding functionality and layout for larger devices (tablets, laptops, etc.) as we progressively add more and more features. We do this to provide our mobile users the best experience possible while assuring full access to all content.

What this means to you, the reader, is that if you’re checking out the beta site fairly early in the process and it looks odd to you, you will need to try scaling down the width of your browser. Then look at the content as a small-screen device will render it. Well, that or just look at the site on your mobile phone.

As we get closer to launch, you will start seeing what you would consider a “normal looking site” start to take shape.

Events Now Available on m.ND.edu

Events Icon

A long overdue feature is now available on m.ND.edu. Powered by the official University calendar, the events module provides access to:

  • Today’s Events
  • Upcoming Events (next 7 days)
  • Academic Calendar (next 90 days)
  • Athletics (next 14 days)
  • Arts & Entertainment (next 14 days)

You can download any event to your mobile device. Most event listings will also provide a location link to the University map.

Webcams Now Available on m.ND.edu

Webcams IconThe webcams on ND.edu have always been popular features. As I write this, the Clark Memorial and South Quad webcams are both in the top 10 of the most visited pages on ND.edu. So if you’re one of those frequent webcam visitors, you can now get a mobile optimized version of the webcams page on our mobile site.

Custom Sizes for Mobile

The webcam images can be rather large for mobile devices. For example, the Clark Memorial image is 704px wide. Even in landscape mode, the iPhone is only 480px wide. To better serve our users, we’re making use of a service called TinySRC that will serve a webcam image to you that is re-sized specifically for your device. If you want to view the full-size image from your device, simply select the re-sized image and it will open the original raw image.