Math Worksheets on Any Device and Any Size

Math Worksheets on Any Device and Any Size

Recently at Math-Drills.com, we updated the design of the website to be responsive to different screen and browser window sizes. What this means is that you should be able to access our free math worksheets from any device or screen size, including iPhones, iPads, Android based phones and tablets and any other device with an internet browser. We asked our Facebook users to test out our design on their devices and here are some of the comments we got:

"I have a Pantech mobile phone and I rarely go to outside website links as they are impossible to navigate with my silly little phone. I was curious and pleasantly surprised, the format of your site fits in my little 3x3 screen and I could easily navigate through your site! I even discovered useful geometry worksheets for my HS junior!"

"I opened it on my iPad. It looks just like it does on my pc. I even found another worksheet that I want to use soon, expanded decimal numbers in Decimals and Percents. I even pinned it from my iPad! I don't think I can print from my iPad though, but I can save documents to my dropbox to open at school."

"I am using a motorola xoom running android jellybean. I love the layout and the ease of navigation of the mobile site from my tablet. I have downloaded and printed from my tablet different worksheets so far. I never had problems with the desktop site at all though. If you are using android you should not have an issue seeing or printing the worksheets. I have even downloaded them and viewed them using Adobe and the Aldiko ereader app."

Desktop Computers

Although many of the changes we made were intended to make Math-Drills.com more accessible on mobile devices such as tablets and phones, there are also benefits for those using the website on desktop computers.

The first benefit is there is no longer a need for horizontal scrolling if you have a small browser window. Maybe you have a small monitor, or you have a big monitor and like to have several windows open and visible at the same time; either way, you will see the contents of the website without having to scroll sideways no matter how wide you choose to make your window.

The second important benefit is for those who might find the text a little small to read. Just hold down the <Ctrl> key (on Windows computers) and spin the wheel mouse. On other operating systems, zoom in using the preferred method for that operating system. The contents of the window should fit nicely, but you will be rewarded with larger text. You can even override the website font using your browser settings if you require a special font.

Screen cap of the Patterning Math Worksheet using OpenDyslexic font and
a narrow screen size. Font settings overridden in Firefox browser.

If you change the size of your browser window while the website is open, it will change with you. If you happen to make it really narrow (i.e. under 700 px), the navigation menu on the right will move down to the bottom of the page.

Mobile Phones and Tablets

Screen capture of Patterning Math
Worksheets page on Android based
phone. Right menu is at bottom of
page now.

Most of our mobile users arrive at Math-Drills.com using an Apple iOS or Android based system. In the past, it wasn't so easy to navigate around the website, but that has changed. When you load the website on any device with a screen width greater than 700 pixels, you will see the normal desktop website. Under 700 px, you will see a different layout while still retaining all of the content. The major difference is that the worksheet navigation links will move to the bottom of the page rather than remaining on the right side of the page.

Scroll down to see navigation menu.

On mobile devices with a screen width under 700 px, you will most likely not see the pdf file on the worksheet page; instead you will see a thumbnail image. Android and iOS both make it difficult to print a worksheet from this page, so we've hidden it on small screens. For Android users, you will most likely be prompted to download the pdf worksheet immediately. For iOS users, you will have to tap on the worksheet thumbnail image to open the pdf. Either way, once the pdf file is downloaded and opened, you can print it or zoom in for some mental math. For frequent Android users, you can set up your mobile browser to automatically download the math worksheet without a prompt.

Printing from a mobile device depends a lot on what printers you have available. For iOS users, you should be able to print to AirPrint printers or use an app to connect your phone to your other printers. For Android users, you may be able to use Google Cloud Print or an app specific to your printer.

Worksheet page as it is seen on small screens. Tap on the
image to open the pdf worksheet or swipe from the top to see
the downloaded worksheet on Android devices.

A Few Tips

Some mobile browsers (e.g. Dolphin on Android) include options to "auto-fit pages" or something similar. This will probably cause some issues if you have it enabled.

Make sure you have a pdf reader app installed on your device. Apple iOS includes a pdf reader built into Safari, so navigating Math-Drills.com with Safari is the best way to go. On Android devices, we suggest installing the Adobe Reader app for best results.

If you end up with a "watermark" on your printouts when using Google Cloud Print, you may have to go into your printer settings and delete all of the possible watermarks, so none will show up when you print.

Crowd Testing

Now that the website design is responsive, it doesn't mean it is perfect. Please try browsing the website from your various mobile devices and let us know what you think. Are you able to see everything clearly? Can you find the menus? Is there anything that would make things easier? Please let us know by replying/responding to this blog post or by commenting on our Facebook or Google+ pages.