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Description

Web browsers are programs that “read” hypertext and display it as formatted text and images. Browsers allow users to view the contents of a site and navigate from one site to another. Increasingly, these browsers also employee scripting to create full-featured, dynamic, and interactive web applications. Web browsers have become the dominant user interface today.

Mobile client web browsers are browsers embedded in or downloaded to cell phones or smart phones. Internet/Extranet mobile client web browsers are used by external NIH stakeholders (grantees, researchers, patients, practitioners, etc.) to gain access to NIH’s public Internet resources or extranet applications via the mobile Web. Because NIH has very little control over what mobile client or mobile browser public or extranet users will use, content managers and web developers that support public-facing websites or extranet applications must develop and test for a wider variety of browsers.

Tactical

(0-2 years)

  • ​Android Browser (for Android devices)
  • BlackBerry Browser v5 and newer
  • Safari (for iPad and iPhone and iPod)

Strategic

(2-5 years)

  • ​Android Browser (for Android devices)
  • BlackBerry Browser v6 and newer
  • Safari (for iPad, iPhone, and iPod)

Retirement

(To be eliminated)

  • ​None

Containment

(No new development

  • ​None

Baseline

(Today)

  • ​Android Browser (for Android devices)
  • BlackBerry Browser v3 - v7
  • Safari (for iPad, iPhone, and iPod)

Emerging

(To track)

  • ​BlackBerry Tablet Browser
  • eReader Browsers (such as Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook)
  • Game System Browsers
  • Other Smart Phone Browsers
  • Opera Mini
  • Other Tablet Browsers

Comments

  • ​The standard browsers were selected based on a review of the mobile browser market and recent website statistics obtained from www.nih.gov.
  • While this standard will accommodate the majority of mobile web users, developers should employee techniques, such as browser detection via Wireless Universal Resource File (WURFL) APIs, to optimize the mobile user experience.
  • Given the fragmentation of the mobile market, developers and software testers should be equipped with tools that support mobile, multi-platform testing. These tools are often integrated with collaborative software development environments.
  • The Apple O/S (Safari browser), Android O/S (Android browser), and many other mobile browsers are based on the WebKit open standard for browser rendering engines. Therefore, testing in one should ensure compatibility in the other. This fact has enabled  some ICs to reduce their development and testing costs

Time Table

This architecture definition approved on: September 27, 2011

The next review is scheduled in: TBD