A client recently pointed out that Sweet & Sour Grapes looks pretty good on the iPad, and got me thinking about making future sites attractive on that platform as well as typical browsers. With it’s high resolution and rotating screen, many webcomic sites already look decent on the iPad without any changes. For those of us not ready to create iPad apps for our comics, check out these tips to make your site “iPad Friendly”.
- If you (like me) don’t have an iPad, you can try iPad Peek to get an impression of how your site looks in both portriat and landscape orientation. (If anyone out there wants to share how accurate this is, I’d love your input.)
- The iPad resolution is 1024 by 768, with the ability to rotate and adjust display of your site on the fly. Consider flexible designs and look into using orientation CSS.
- Touching and tapping requires cleaner designs with more white space. Avoid cramming too many small links into one spot. Plus your hover effects will not show up (much) on a touchscreen. Make those links clear.
- The iPad does not support Flash, so if you want your comic readable I recommend taking it out of any flash browser you’re using. There are many quality content management systems without flash displays you can try and you can also check out jQuery and HTML5 for some functions.
Comics Specific Thoughts
Webcomics are, of course, all about reading the comic. Readers will probably want to read long form comics in the portrait format. Try to keep the navigation close to the comic and large enough that readers can “flip” through the comic without scrolling.
Since the iPad browser is so good, you probably don’t need a dedicated app for your comic, but if you do create one you can certainly make the experience more like reading a book (or whatever semi-intuitive object you prefer).
More Tools & Tips
Since I haven’t had hands-on experience with the iPad yet, check out these larger list for more information: 40 iPad tools, tips for designers (Garmahis)
