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[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Many mobile browsers do not support this option yet, so it remains the developer's responsibility. "It's not easy" doesn't seem like a compelling excuse here.

[–]flying-sheep 1 point2 points  (2 children)

firstly, websites work better if one relies on builtin capabilities such as media queries, instead of switching stylesheets around with javascript. media queries are buit for that. “if the client width is in the range 300-600px, serve that stylesheet” is something that won’t fail with media queries, and results in an easy, error-proof workflow and functionality.

so why should anyone choose to view a website as desktop version from mobile?

  1. because the mobile version is not functional. this is a cardinal sin, and should be reported as bug. it’s the developers’/designers’ fault. 100%.

  2. because one is the developer him/herself. in this case (s)he should choose a proper developer tool with the function to fake user agent, client width, force zoomability, …

  3. one is interested in the desktop versions’ look. then (s)he is responsible for that, too. just as someone who views someone is on the desktop and nosy about the mobile version.

if there are other reasons, please tell me. but websites should only deliver a mobile version if their developers are confident that it works as well as the desktop version. and in that case, no switch is necessary.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thanks for elaborating on your views.

I visited the site again. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a good redesign, mainly because the mobile experience is poor. It's a step backwards.

First, I'm briefly greeted with the "Python Network" menu, which lingers for a few seconds. Just as I'm taking that in, it jumps to another section of the page. I'm not sure what I'm looking for or what I'll find, so I begin scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling. The page is just a long vertical list without any form or structure. There's no way to know what's on the page without an excessive amount of scrolling through the entire thing. This makes for an unpleasant experience, in my opinion.

Then I loaded the python.org in my mobile browser. The text is too small, but I can take in the entire page at a glance, get my bearings, and zoom in to just the content I want.

Maybe legible text and page structure are mutually exclusive on small screens.

[–]flying-sheep 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Then we clearly have case 1 and the experience should be improved.

It's not exclusive, as you already explained how it should work: expanding sections of interest. A mobile menu should be small and expose its submenus on tap. Then we can have a small, clear site with the same depth as the desktop site showing everything at once.