why meta element with name viewport is required for responsive design
If you do not include the <meta name="viewport"> tag in your HTML document, the mobile browsers will resort to a default behavior that can adversely affect the user experience and the appearance of your website on mobile devices. Here’s what happens and a practical example to illustrate the impact:
Default Behavior Without Viewport Meta Tag
When a mobile browser loads a webpage without a viewport meta tag, it assumes that the webpage was designed for a typical desktop display. Most mobile browsers default to a viewport width of about 980 pixels (or sometimes as much as 1024 pixels). This is because many websites are designed for a desktop screen width and would otherwise not display correctly on a small device.
Consequences of Omitting the Viewport Meta Tag
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Zoomed-Out Display: The entire web page is scaled down to fit the screen width of the mobile device. This often results in text and interactive elements being too small to read or use effectively without zooming in manually.
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Horizontal Scrolling: If the page is wider than the default viewport width used by the mobile browser, users may need to scroll horizontally to view content that spills outside the viewport. Horizontal scrolling is generally inconvenient and can lead to a poor user experience.
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Poor Usability: Small clickable elements (like buttons or links) can be difficult to tap accurately without zooming in, which can frustrate users and decrease the usability of the website.
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SEO Impact: Websites that are not mobile-friendly may be penalized in search engine rankings, especially on searches made from mobile devices. Google and other search engines prefer websites that provide a good user experience across all device types.
Example
Let’s consider a simple example of an HTML page with and without the viewport meta tag:
Without the viewport meta tag:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
<p>This is a sample text that might be too small to read on a mobile device without zooming in.</p>
</body>
</html>
Result: On a mobile device, the browser will render the page at a typical desktop width (around 980 pixels). The text will appear very small, and the user might have to pinch to zoom in to read the content comfortably.
With the viewport meta tag:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Sample Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
<p>This text will be more readable on a mobile device as it scales according to the device width.</p>
</body>
</html>
Result: The browser sets the viewport width to match the screen width of the device. The content is more legible without any need for the user to zoom in, enhancing the readability and user interaction right from the start.