An architecture for building multi-device thin-client web user interfaces

Abstract

We describe a new approach to providing adaptable thin client interfaces for web-based information systems. Developers specify web-based interfaces using a high-level mark-up language based on the logical structure of the user interface. At run-time this single interface description is used to automatically provide an interface for multiple web devices e.g. desk-top HTML and mobile WML-based systems, as well as highlight, hide or disable interface elements depending on the current user and user task. Our approach allows developers to much more easily construct and maintain adaptable web-based user interfaces than other current approaches.