Context-aware Web content adaptation for mobile user agents

Abstract

There is a growing need for mobile users to access Web content. In this chapter, adaptation approaches and techniques are described that lets mobile users access Web content that's not directly targeted to user agents of mobile devices. Typical Web applications are designed to be used on a wide range of target devices. In practice, these target devices may include anything from a mobile phone to a Web browser in PC environment. However, the user agent capabilities vary and are generally modest in mobile environments. Content adaptation is necessary, for instance, when a mobile client requests a large document from a Web server. Due to target devices' limitations, the adaptation process must often break input Web documents into suitable units to improve users' experiences on mobile devices. User agents render perceivable units and enable interaction. Content adaptation can be based on the information of delivery context, which can include static or dynamic information including device capabilities, network characteristics, user preferences, and other application-specific parameters. Content selection may allow selection between versions of the material. Web content can be adapted as is or on the basis of author-provided or any additional metadata related to the input. Content authors may choose among several authoring methods related to adaptation. This chapter also outlines typical use cases of Web content adaptation. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.