Basic questions about mobile development

Mobile
1

I’m building my first mobile site (mobile only, not responsive), I just have some basic questions I was hoping someone could help me with or point me in the right direction to get started. Thanks in advance.

  1. Is it safe to assume that javascript is alway on, or should I code fallbacks incase js is off?

  2. With CSS properties, do I need to worry about browser prefixes? For example, would I need to do this:


background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, #2F2727, #1a82f7);
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, #2F2727, #1a82f7);

or could I just the CSS3 standard:


background: linear-gradient(black, white);
  1. I am building nested navigation almost identical to this: http://ui-cloud.com/res/designmoo/Accordion_Navigation/previews/accordion.jpg
    except the sub nav will slide up. Should I build this the same way I would for a desktop browser, maybe like a jQuery accordion? Or is there just a better way to do this with iPhone/mobile? Are CSS transitions better to use on mobile?
2

For questions like that, go to sites like caniuse, which keep you up to date with how well things are supported:

3

  1. You would create the site with the same parameters for JS as your regular site, as they’ll be using a variety of browsers. Only you know if your users tend to turn JS off or not. Are they browser-savvy users like that?

  2. Since your site will be seen across several browsers, I suggest using browser prefixes. However, they are quickly becoming obsolete with the newer versions of the browsers. So … you would include them to support earlier versions, then decide when to stop supporting them.

  3. I suggest using patterns already developed specifically for mobile, such as Zurb Foundation, Skeleton, and others. This article gives several suggestions: http://exisweb.net/incredibly-useful-list-of-responsive-navigation-and-menu-patterns