I’m not sure about you but i’ve been having real problems with the 3G reception on my iPhone. At home it is fine but as soon as i get into work I lose all reception. At first i thought it was just me but soon found out that it was all iPhone users in the office and then I realised that it was all 3G phone users….

But why? The internet was full of blogs claiming that the iPhone 3G reception issues were caused by hardware but that doesn’t explain why non-iPhone 3G users were also having problems. Then i came across this article which explained it all (kind of). Apparently, the iPhone is requesting a little too much power from the antenna. When this is multiplied by several hundred users it is causing interference with the antenna. Simple explanation right?

Mac have since released a couple of builds in an attempt to fix the problem, suggesting that the power request is software controlled. If this is true it is good news for iPhone owners. Of course, if the article is correct then it would require all iPhone owners to upgrade to the latest firmware in order for the problem to be fixed (or a good proportion of them).

My personal opinion is that this is also a 3G network issue. It simple can’t cope with the increased demand since the introducion of the 3G iphone and the REAL fix is to put up more cell towers (not that I advocate this).

NOTE: i work in central london in an office full of iPhone users

The Mobile Web Best Practices working group has just published a first public working draft of their guidelines for developing and delivering mobile web applications.

If you already build and deliver mobile web applications or plan to then your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Just a quick note to say that the Mobile Web Best Practices has been rubber stamped as a W3C Recommendation and now officially known as Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, offering practical advice on creating mobile friendly content.

“Mobile Web content developers now have stable guidelines and maturing tools to help them create a better mobile Web experience,” said Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, W3C Mobile Web Activity Lead. “In support of the W3C mission of building One Web, we want to support the developer community by providing tools to enable a great mobile Web user experience.”

Well done to the working group for all their efforts in getting this approved.

Shawn Henry has posted a request to the WAI Interest Group to collect experiences, stories, and perspectives
on people with disabilities using the Web via mobile devices. See below:

Dear WAI Interest Group Participants,

We are interested in collecting experiences, stories, and perspectives
on people with disabilities using the Web via mobile devices. For
example: What are use cases of accessing the Web via a mobile device
that are particularly useful for a person with a disability? What are
unique issues accessing the Web via mobile device (versus desktop or
laptop) for people with disabilities?

We are also interested in similar information about Web access via
mobile device by “seniors”, older users who may have Web accessibility
needs related to aging. Are there cases when accessing the Web via a
mobile device is particularly useful for older users, or they have
unique issues using the Web via a mobile device?

Please note that we are limiting the scope of this query to *specific
accessibility issues using the Web*, and *not* more general hardware
issues, non-Web functionality, etc.

You can send your feedback to me, the WAI interest list or you can send them
to wai@w3.org.

WebAnywhere is a new screen reader (text-to-speech software) on the horizon. Available May 2008, this screen reader will be free. Like the name it can be accessed on any PC meaning it will provide more freedom and access to information for people who depend on such software. All they will need is access to a PC with a sound card, just as you might check your email on a friends PC or one at work or collage.

To avail of it you simply execute some keyboard commands to open the WebAnywhere home page and away you go.

WebAnywhere is a web-based screen reader. It requires no special software to be installed on the client machine and, therefore, enables blind people to access the web from any computer they happen to have access to that has a sound card.

Since this is a Web based application chances are it will support mobile phones but we’ll have to wait until its released to test that.

Below is a video demonstration of someone using WebAnywhere to check their email, project deadline and the bus time table.

Do you have a Web site which is compliant with the W3C’s Web Content Accessiblity Guidelines? If so, you may be interested to see if your site is going to require any additional work in order to make it mobile friendly or, as the W3C calls it Mobile OK.

The W3C has just published a first public working draft of a Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines document. This document aims to bridge the gap between WCAG and the Mobile Web Best Practices by providing direct mappings between the guidelines. If you know what WCAG checkpoints your site conforms to, then this document will tell you what additional steps you need to take to also make it Mobile OK.

It’s a very useful document as it demonstrates just how little effort is actually required to make your website Mobile OK.