Is it really that big an issue? Sure it is, and its great to see more and more sites working at making their content more accessible for mobile users.

Some of the world’s top wireless and internet companies, including Nokia, Vodafone and Google, have agreed on a set of website development guidelines aimed at making it easier to surf the internet on cell phones.

The majority of cell phones today have browsers as wireless providers hope to expand beyond voice services, but only about 19 percent of U.S. mobile phone users regularly use the web on their phones, according to researcher M:Metrics.

The Worldwide Web Consortium, a group backed by 30 industry players, hopes to improve on this percentage by creating 60 guidelines for developers to design sites that are easy to use on cell phones, which have much smaller screens and tiny keypads.

The guidelines advise developers against using big graphics or pop-up ads that could clutter phone screens. They also suggest designing sites in such a way that the content appears right at the top of a cell phone screen, allowing users to avoid scrolling past multiple navigation links.

The guidelines also steer developers away from using cookies, which store information on the viewer’s computer to help websites remember user preferences, enabling speedier navigation. Cookies do not work on cell phones…. Source: Wired News