On the go? The news still can come to you.
In an effort to improve its services for readers who aren’t tethered to a desktop computer, The Ottawa Herald launched Wednesday its new mobile website, which boasts a more coherent layout, more content, photos and more.
The site also features Ottawa weather, area entertainment, opinion, obituaries, sports and videos, Jeanny Sharp, Herald editor publisher, said.
“The new site is easier to navigate and includes more information than in the past,” Sharp said. “The site includes more days of content rather than just the current day’s news, too. Readers also enjoy using the ‘Readers Picks’ to see what news others are following. The site will continue to evolve as a more user-friendly mobile-optimized calendar, business directory are added on later.
“For those visiting the site without an online subscription or activation of the free online access that accompanies print subscriptions, they can read more by clicking on the “Access” link at the top of the site.”
Sharp said The Herald’s new mobile site implements cutting-edge technology that can be applied across several platforms, including smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
“Responsive websites — utilizing HTML 5 — are the wave of the future because they automatically adapt to the size the user’s screen, whether it is a laptop, tablet, mobile phone or any of the various orientations, such as vertical or horizontal, of a smartphone,” Sharp said. “The public values the ability to get its news regardless of where they are in an easy-to-use mobile environment. Industry marketing trends continue to show skyrocketing use of mobile for news sources, such as The Herald, as audiences migrate toward increased mobile usage for news as well as for marketing purposes. It just makes good sense to optimize our site to its fullest potential to continue providing leadership with news and information products that meet our readers changing lifestyles and fostering business growth for businesses that aren’t able to get into mobile on their own.”
During the next two weeks, the mobile site will be opened up for free so readers can take a look and provide feedback, Sharp said. Sharp also reminded readers that The Herald should have a new website by January 2013 to provide readers even more content in an easier-to-use format.
Readers can access the mobile site at wwww.ottawaherald.com/mobile