Adapting the Web interface: an adaptive Web browser

Abstract

The growing number of mobile computing devices with diverse characteristics creates a requirement for seamless (device independent) access to computing resources of distributed systems. One of the most common applications in distributed systems is the Web browser, which is not only used to access resources on the Internet but also as an interface to many information system applications. The authors address types of adaptation that can be applied to a Web browser in response to diverse context changes, including changes in available computing resources, input and output device capabilities, network characteristics, location and use context. We also present a design and implementation of a Web browser that adapts to changes in its network and computing environment by exploiting context metadata.