How to check your website on a phone

The six checks at a glance

Use the phone you carry every day and hold it upright. Start on your home page. Then repeat the checks on your contact page. A problem can show on one page and not on the other. A check passes when it matches its line below.

• Fit: the page stays still when you drag a finger across it.
• Text: you can read a full paragraph without pinching the screen.
• Number: one tap on your phone number dials it.
• Wait: you count the seconds before the first line is readable.
• Photos: every photo shows and none stays blank.
• First screen: a stranger can tell what you do and where you are.

Checks one and two: fit and text size

Check one is screen fit. Drag one finger left and right on the page. If the page slides sideways, part of it sits off the screen. A visitor must slide the page to read each line.

Check two is text size. Read one full paragraph without pinching the screen. If you must pinch to read it, the text is too small for a phone. Write that down.

Checks three and four: the tap and the wait

Check three is the phone number. Find your number on the page and tap it once. If your phone dials the number or offers to dial it, the number works. If nothing happens, customers must type it themselves. Try your number on the contact page and at the bottom of the home page.

Check four is the wait. Type your web address into the browser and press go. Count the seconds out loud until you can read the first line. Run the test three times and write down all three numbers.

Checks five and six: photos and the first screen

Check five is the photos. Scroll down the page and watch each photo appear. Write down any photo that stays blank. Also note any photo that looks stretched and any spot where the page jumps as it loads.

Check six is the first screen. Look at what shows before you scroll. It should say what you do and where you are. Hand the phone to a friend for five seconds. Then ask your friend what your business does. Also ask what felt slow or hard to read.

Repeat on a second phone and with wifi off

Run all six checks again on a second phone. Borrow one from a friend or someone on your staff. Phones come in different screen sizes, so a problem can show on one and not on another.

Then turn wifi off on your own phone and run the checks again on mobile data. Customers away from your wifi use mobile data too.

What to do with what you find

Write each problem as one plain sentence. Send your notes to whoever looks after your site. Run the six checks again after the site changes and again every three months.

The guide named Why your website loads slowly explains what to do with the three numbers from check four. Your note should say four things.

• Say which page and which phone.
• Give the three numbers from check four.
• Name each photo that stays blank.
• Add a screenshot of anything that looks wrong.