The BBC has unveiled a new mobile-friendly design for its website home-page.
Explaining the new look on the BBC Internet blog, senior product manager Michael Skelton said: “This new design emphasises imagery compared with the previous design. Those images have been optimised for your device and bandwidth, so the page loading speed is never compromised, whilst still providing exceptional image quality for when your connection speed is able to handle the bigger images.
"As you would expect, we’ve still got headlines from News and Sport, along with a mix of editorially-selected stories further down, designed to grab your interest and perhaps direct you towards content that you may not otherwise have found. At the bottom of the page, mini carousels present a digest of the most talked-about TV and Radio programmes and clips.”
He said that the new homepage will soon be customisable by readers who log in with a BBC ID.
The BBC homepage is said to attract around 3m browsers per day and more than 8m a week.
Writing about the changes last week, BBC executive product manager Andy Pipes said: “It’s been three years since we last updated the look and feel of the BBC’s Homepage. In that time, most of the BBC’s websites have adopted a responsive web design approach that optimises the layout for any screen size.
"The BBC’s Homepage team has, however, had to maintain different versions of its application – one for mobile phones, and another for the traditional 'desktop' and tablet devices.
"By moving to a single, responsive website, we can improve the audience’s experience more quickly and easily across all platforms. The new website’s layout will automatically resize and reflow its content to best suit your screen’s dimensions. And with the latest class of smartphones filling the gap between traditional mobile phones and 'fablets', there are even more screen sizes to contend with. It’s important the BBC Homepage looks brilliant on any device that comes along without our team having to re-code to accommodate each new phone’s specification."
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