The viewport <meta> tag initial-scale is incorrect
This means that the URL in question contains a viewport <meta> tag with an initial-scale set to a value other than 1.0.
Why is this important?
The browser's viewport is the area of the window in which web content can be seen. The viewport varies with the device, and will be smaller on a mobile phone than on a computer screen. A <meta> viewport element gives the browser instructions on how to control the page's dimensions and scaling.
Initial-scale is an optional attribute for the viewport, and it keeps the page displaying correctly on orientation change. Adding the attribute 'initial-scale=1' instructs browsers to establish a 1:1 relationship between CSS pixels and device-independent pixels regardless of device orientation, and allows the page to take advantage of the full landscape width when rotating the screen. Unless the width attribute is set to a specific value, setting the initial-scale to a value other than 1 will make the page content appear zoomed in (or out) on mobile devices.
What does the Hint check?
This Hint will trigger for any internal URL which contains a viewport <meta> tag with an initial-scale set to a value other than 1.0.
Examples that trigger this Hint:
This Hint would trigger for any URL that has a viewport <meta> tag in the <head>, with the initial-scale attribute set to something other than 1.0:
How do you resolve this issue?
Initial-scale is designed to control the zoom level when the page is first loaded, or the orientation is changed. In order to make sure that the content does not appear zoomed in/out, you need to ensure that the initial scale is set to 1.0.
The recommended, 'safe' viewport setting is:
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
Further Reading
- Responsive Web Design Basics
- Using the viewport meta tag to control layout on mobile browsers
- Responsive Web Design - The Viewport
