Device support

Device Support - Current

4A - Augment

While Canada.ca does not define specific devices to be supported, but has general guidance in terms mobile usage under their Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices. The following guidance is provided for DECD use.

In Appendix B: Project requirements, it states that:

Managers, functional specialists, and equivalents are responsible for ensuring the following for device-based mobile application projects: Support at a maximum the mobile operating systems that have at least 5 per cent of either the world or Canadian mobile market share

A quick Google search reveals the following statistical ranges in Canada as of December 2021 (via gs.statcounter.com):

• Device: Desktop (55-59%); Mobile (35-40%); Tablet (4.85-5.69%)
• Resolution: 1920x1080 (20-23%); 1366x768 (18-21%); 1536x864 (9-10%); 1440x900 (6-7%); 1280x720 (5.1-5.8%)
• Vendor: Apple (52-55%); Samsung (27-29%); Huawei (7-9%)
• Browser: Chrome (63-65%); Safari (18-20%);

Additionally, Canada.ca provides guidance on how to design for web and mobile.

In the Introduction, they state:

This document is a companion to the Standard on Web Usability and to the Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices. It describes how to optimize websites and Web applications for mobile devices, as well as the layout and design specifications for websites, Web applications and device-based mobile applications. This ensures that Government of Canada websites, Web applications and device-based mobile applications are recognizable, easy to use and optimized for a wide variety of devices, such as smart phones (small device screens), tablets (medium device screens) and desktop computers (large device screens).

Terms used in this document:

• Device screen refers to the physical screen of a device used to view a page/screen.
• Page/screen refers to the entire canvas upon which the elements of the site/application are laid out.
• Viewport refers to the window through which the page/screen is viewed.

How to use this document:

If designing a website or a Web application, implement all of the following specifications:

• Optimizing websites and Web applications for mobile devices.
• Layout and design specifications for small device screens.
• Layout and design specifications for medium device screens.
• Layout and design specifications for large device screens.
• Layout and design specifications for print.
• Design specifications for archived content.

If designing a device-based mobile application, implement all of the following specifications:

• One or more of the following screen specifications:
• Layout and design specifications for small device screens.
• Layout and design specifications for medium device screens.
• Design specifications for application icons for device-based mobile applications.
• Design specifications for application launch screens for device-based mobile applications.
• Design specifications for the launch sequence of device-based mobile applications.

For more details, see the Technical specifications for the Web and mobile presence